Eden: …is it Just about an apple? The saga of Adam and Eve by Patrick Miron … [I’m a Catholic]

 

Eden:  …is it Just about an apple?

The saga of Adam and Eve

by Patrick Miron … [I’m a Catholic]

“Eden:” the “mythical” bible garden, for those who may not know was much more than just a “Garden.” It was a “Utopia!” a “Shang Ra La” ….. a place of everything good; and nothing “bad”. Perfect weather all of the time, [they ran around naked], all the food they could eat, and all they had to do was procreate and cf. “NOT eat of the [one] tree in the Center of the Garden”. There was no sickness, no death, and they didn’t even have to “work” [what Adam had to do was plant and take care of a garden; but it was recreational; not laborious as is our “work.”.  And that is what God had planned for all humanity. What the HECK happened?

Genesis 1: 26-28

..“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”

To discover and uncover what happened we must first go back in time to when God had not yet decided to “create” [to make something out of nothing, which only God can do] “a man” and from that man who the bible call’s Adam {but might have been Sam or Ben?}, … we’ll go along with Adam, and from Adam; Eve. The Perfect man and the Perfect women with a marriage literally “made in heaven.”

Before we share the biblical account of this creation; let me ask you an important question: Do you know how “man” [humanity] emulates [is like] God?

God is described as “Spirit and truth”

John 4:24 “God is a spirit; and they that adore him, must adore him in spirit and in truth.” We can know this from reading through the entire Old Testament where Yahweh {God} appeared many times to His”:Chosen People”, but never in the form of a “man.”

God evidenced as the “Spirit” appeared to Moses and His “Chosen people:  … “And I will take you to myself for my people, I will be your God: …” Exodus 6:7; and in the New Testament, at the [unnecessary] Baptism of the Incarnate Christ Jesus: 2^nd Corinthians 6:16….   “… I will dwell in them, and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

Yahweh appeared as a bush on fire Exodus 3: 2-3

As a Cloud and a fiery flame Exodus 40: 46

As a gentle breeze 1 kings 19:13

As a strong wind Job 8:2

And as a voice from a cloud: 2^nd Corinthians 6:16

When God decided to create man in “His image”, {God being Spirit and Truth}, He created every “man” with a mind, an intellect and a freewill, which He then permanently attached to man’s Soul. It is this “Other-man; our Other self” that like God is a Spiritual reality, and being a pure-spirit is Immortal, as is God Himself.

OK, back to the creation of Adam and Eve.

Genesis 2:7-25  “Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.  And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. … The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.” Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
“So out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper fit for him. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh; and the rib which the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh. [The institution of Marriage] And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.”

How did the “fall of man” take place?

Now we will ask and respond to a series of questions on just what we Catholics are to accept and believe.

1. How did the fall of man take place?

REPLY: Genesis 3: 1-19

“Now the serpent was more subtle : [duplicitous & “the father of lies”  John 8:44] than any other wild creature that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, `You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?”

[We need to do a time shift here and explain briefly that Satan [“the serpent”] HAD been a Good and very gifted, powerful “Arch-Angel” who lived in a  perfect existence; lacking nothing good and having nothing bad UNNTIL this “Perfect existence” was found to be “wanting.” and The good Arch Angel choose to freely gave it all up because he wanted the one and only thing he did not have: he was NOT “God”, and that is what he sought to be. …

Tradition holds that there was a fierce battle between [the unnamed] him and Michael the Arch Angel, whom God choose to defend His Sovereignty. and defeat Satan and his multitude of “bad angels” who supported and fought for him, and cast all of them into Shoal …Hell for an eternal life of suffering and misery.  …Like most of today’s movies, God and Michael won; Good prevailed, and we  can choose to be with the “Good guys” or the “Bad guys’ by our life choices.    … There are two wonderful bible accounts of Satan’s fall from grace: Isaiah 14: 11-19 [which I will use here] and Ezekiel 28:12-19; a much longer and more detailed account of Satan’s fall from grace, for those who might be interested in reading it.

QUOTE: “Your PRIDE is brought down to Sheol,[hell] maggots are the bed beneath you, and worms are your covering. “How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, `I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High.’ But you are brought down to Sheol,[hell] to the depths of the Pit. Those who see you will stare at you, and ponder over you: `…  but you are cast out, away from your sepulchre, [domicile] like a loathed untimely birth, clothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword, who go down to the stones of the Pit, like a dead body trodden under foot. You will not be joined with them in burial, because you have destroyed your land, [denied God’s exclusive right to be “Sovereign God”]”

Now BACK to Adam and Eve:
“And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but God said, `You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die. [Speaking here of a spiritual death]  For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, [Had the mysterious ability to make her and Adam LIKE GOD!]  … Does THIS sound familiar?] she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate. “

Then the eyes of both were opened, [SIN WAS INTRODUCED] and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking [means only “making noise here in this passage] in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. {One cannot actually “hide” from an All-knowing God; this means that they desired too hide from God, knowing that there would be consequences for their actions.]

But the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of thee in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”

Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent beguiled me,[snookered me] and I ate.”

The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle, [cursed be you above all living things] and above all wild animals; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. [The IMAGE of a snake is used here metaphorically to denote the lowest possible living-thing on earth]

 I will put enmity [a deep-seated ill will]  between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

To the woman he said, “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband,
and he shall rule over you.” And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you,
`You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; [no longer will it automatically produce ALL you need for your existence: WORK NOW!] in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles [pain, hardships and suffering ARE to be henceforth expected]  it shall bring forth to you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust and to dust you shall return.” [Thus the absolute need for man to have a “spiritual other self.”]

2. Is the story of Creation a literal truth?

Everything in the bible is true; but not everything in the bible is factual.

REPLY: No, at least not totally in a “literal sense.” However there are many elements of it that MUST be accepted and believed.

The bible uses many forms of authorship to share its message and to teach its Moral Truths. The first reading of the bible is to be read assuming a Literal meaning and teaching. A Literal meaning being the most common form employed, but when it is obvious [or very likely] that what is being shared is not literal, then, read it in light of that fact; always keeping it in its original context is critical to gaining right understanding.  Other forms include, but are not limited to these, are also employed.

Allegory: A narrative in which literal meaning corresponds clearly and directly to symbolic meaning. The story of the Garden of Eden is often considered to be an allegory [IN PART] … Also used forms include; but are not limited to: Biography; Didactic literature; … [ [Literature intended to instruct or educate] ; Prophetic; Historical; Myth; and Parable [a favorite form often used by Christ]

3. What are these points that we Catholics MUST accept as “Defined Doctrines” of our Catholic Faith?

REPLY: From the Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church

287 “The truth about creation is so important for all of human life that God in his tenderness wanted to reveal to his People everything that is salutary to know on the subject. Beyond the natural knowledge that every man can have of the Creator, God progressively revealed to Israel the mystery of creation. He who chose the patriarchs, who brought Israel out of Egypt, and who by choosing Israel created and formed it, this same God reveals himself as the One to whom belong all the peoples of the earth, and the whole earth itself; he is the One who alone “made heaven and earth”.

288 “Thus the revelation of creation is inseparable from the revelation and forging of the covenant of the one God with his People. Creation is revealed as the first step towards this covenant, the first and universal witness to God’s all-powerful love. And so, the truth of creation is also expressed with growing vigor in the message of the prophets, the prayer of the psalms and the liturgy, and in the wisdom sayings of the Chosen People”.

289 “Among all the Scriptural texts about creation, the first three chapters of Genesis occupy a unique place. From a literary standpoint these texts may have had diverse sources. The inspired authors have placed them at the beginning of Scripture to express in their solemn language the truths of creation – its origin and its end in God, its order and goodness, the vocation of man, and finally the drama of sin and the hope of salvation. Read in the light of Christ, within the unity of Sacred Scripture and in the living Tradition of the Church, these texts remain the principal source for catechesis on the mysteries of the “beginning”: creation, fall, and promise of salvation.”

302 “Creation has its own goodness and proper perfection, but it did not spring forth complete from the hands of the Creator. The universe was created “in a state of journeying” (in statu viae) toward an ultimate perfection yet to be attained, to which God has destined it. We call “divine providence” the dispositions by which God guides his creation toward this perfection:

By his providence God protects and governs all things which he has made, “reaching mightily from one end of the earth to the other, and ordering all things well”. For “all are open and laid bare to his eyes”, even those things which are yet to come into existence through the free action of creatures.”

315 In the creation of the world and of man, God gave the first and universal witness to his almighty love and his wisdom, the first proclamation of the “plan of his loving goodness“, which finds its goal in the new creation in Christ.    

346 In creation God laid a foundation and established laws{ The “Natural Laws” like gravity] that remain firm, on which the believer can rely with confidence, for they are the sign and pledge of the unshakeable faithfulness of God’s covenant. For his part man must remain faithful to this foundation, and respect the laws which the Creator has written into it.

375 The Church, interpreting the symbolism of biblical language in an authentic way, in the light of the New Testament and Tradition, teaches that our first parents, Adam and Eve, were constituted in an original “state of holiness and justice”. This grace of original holiness was “to share in. . .divine life”.

399 Scripture portrays the tragic consequences of this first disobedience. Adam and Eve immediately lose the grace of original holiness. They become afraid of the God of whom they have conceived a distorted image – that of a God jealous of his prerogatives.

404 How did the sin of Adam become the sin of all his descendants? The whole human race is in Adam “as one body of one man”. By this “unity of the human race” all men are implicated in Adam’s sin, as all are implicated in Christ’s justice. Still, the transmission of original sin is a mystery that we cannot fully understand. But we do know by Revelation that Adam had received original holiness and justice not for himself alone, but for all human nature. By yielding to the tempter, Adam and Eve committed a personal sin, but this sin affected the human nature that they would then transmit in a fallen state. It is a sin which will be transmitted by propagation to all mankind, that is, by the transmission of a human nature deprived of original holiness and justice. And that is why original sin is called “sin” only in an analogical sense: it is a sin “contracted” and not “committed” – a state and not an act

417 Adam and Eve transmitted to their descendants human nature wounded by their own first sin and hence deprived of original holiness and justice; this deprivation is called “original sin“.

411 The Christian tradition sees in this passage an announcement of the “New Adam” [Christ] who, because he “became obedient unto death, even death on a cross”, makes amends superabundantly for the disobedience, of Adam. Furthermore many Fathers and Doctors of the Church have seen the woman announced in the Protoevangelium as Mary, the mother of Christ, the “new Eve”. Mary benefited first of all and uniquely from Christ’s victory over sin: she was preserved from all stain of original sin and by a special grace of God committed no sin of any kind during her whole earthly life

1602 Sacred Scripture begins with the creation of man and woman in the image and likeness of God and concludes with a vision of “the wedding-feast of the Lamb.” Scripture speaks throughout of marriage and its “mystery,” its institution and the meaning God has given it, its origin and its end, its various realizations throughout the history of salvation, the difficulties arising from sin and its renewal “in the Lord” in the New Covenant of Christ and the Church

1608 Nevertheless, the order of creation persists, though seriously disturbed. To heal the wounds of sin, man and woman need the help of the grace that God in his infinite mercy never refuses them. Without his help man and woman cannot achieve the union of their lives for which God created them “in the beginning.”

4. Summary of mandated beliefs:

God [Triune] Created everything & and sustains all life and is the author ob both life and death.

*God created the first man and the first women. {Names and form at birth subject to speculation] and gave them a human soul, with a mind, intellect and freewill. No other Created thing [except angels and God Himself] are so endowed and Blessed. And there is a precise reason that man is so gifted:

Isaiah 43: 1, 7 & 21 “And now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and formed thee, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed thee, and called thee by thy name: thou art mine”… And every one that calleth upon my name, I have created him for my glory, I have formed him, and made him. … This people have I formed for myself, they shall shew forth my praise”

The account of the “Fall” is allegorical, BUT the fact that the first man and first women were seduced by Satan and made the identical prideful choice to “BE GOD”, as did Satan, is fact and cannot be denied.  Nor can the Doctrine of Original sin; which is inherent to all mankind, and unless forgiven through Christian Baptism; with water in the name of the Trinity Mt.28: 19 or in very limited, very precise noted exceptions; for those who through no fault of their own “do not know Christ Church and Faith; MIGHT be saved through a Perfect act of contrition” [Repent and convert]

http://www.catholic.com/tracts/adam-eve-and-evolution :

“Concerning human evolution, the Church has a more definite teaching. It allows for the possibility that man’s body developed from previous biological forms, under God’s guidance, but it insists on the special creation of his soul. Pope Pius XII declared that “the teaching authority of the Church does not forbid that, in conformity with the present state of human sciences and sacred theology, research and discussions . . . take place with regard to the doctrine of evolution, in as far as it inquires into the origin of the human body as coming from pre-existent and living matter—[but] the Catholic faith obliges us to hold that souls are immediately created by God” (Pius XII, Humani Generis 36). So whether the human body was specially created or developed, we are required to hold as a matter of Catholic faith that the human soul is specially created; it did not evolve, and it is not inherited from our parents, as our bodies are.

While the Church permits belief in either special creation or developmental creation on certain questions, it in no circumstances permits belief in atheistic evolution.”

Adam and Eve: Real People

It is equally impermissible to dismiss the story of Adam and Eve and the fall (Gen. 2–3) as a fiction. A question often raised in this context is whether the human race descended from an original pair of two human beings (a teaching known as monogenism) or a pool of early human couples (a teaching known as polygenism).

In this regard, Pope Pius XII stated: “When, however, there is question of another conjectural opinion, namely polygenism, the children of the Church by no means enjoy such liberty. For the faithful cannot embrace that opinion which maintains either that after Adam there existed on this earth true men who did not take their origin through natural generation from him as from the first parents of all, or that Adam represents a certain number of first parents. Now, it is in no way apparent how such an opinion can be reconciled that which the sources of revealed truth and the documents of the teaching authority of the Church proposed with regard to original sin which proceeds from a sin actually committed by an individual Adam in which through generation is passed onto all and is in everyone as his own” (Humani Generis 37).

The story of the creation and fall of man is a true one, even if not written entirely according to modern literary techniques. The Catechism states, “The account of the fall in Genesis 3 uses figurative language, but affirms a primeval event, a deed that took place at the beginning of the history of man. Revelation gives us the certainty of faith that the whole of human history is marked by the original fault freely committed by our first parents” (CCC 390).” END QUOTES

*The tree in the center of the garden is mythical. Whatever “fruit” it held was readily available on other “trees.” This was a test of love and loyalty to God for creating them and providing everything they actually needed or could reasonably want,

5. Is there room for “yea but’s?”

REPLY: Yea but be careful. The rule that cannot be bridged is that everything we believe must conform, must align with Catholic Church Teachings.

God Bless, Patick

 

Our Catholic “Church” Exploring the meaning of: “Church” … by Patrick Miron

I’m Catholic

by Pat Miron

Our Catholic “Church”

Exploring the meaning of: “Church” …

 

It is common these day’s to hear Catholics Laity referred to as “the church.” The Biblical reference for this is from: 1^st. Peter 2: 5 “and like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

Some have taken this passage too literally; and have used this message-platform to usurp power and positions rightly reserved to the ordained Clergy. The Church, and therefore; “we“, are better served by understanding that we are “The Mystical Body;” [Spirit of the Church]  and “The Church Militant.” [Defenders of the Church and our Faith.] We represent our Faith by our visible practice of it; and our visible Godly commitment; by knowing our Faith; living it and defending it in truth and charity, when called to do so. If a non-catholic or a non-Christian came into our church; would they even suspect that Christ is Present?…. In many, Not likely,…. No, we can’t do it “all;”….  but are we part of the problem; or part of the solution?

 In truth; “we are the church” ONLY when we represent her holiness, Her Goodness and manifest Her charity. QUOTE: “The Church’s Eucharistic faith“: SACRAMENTUM CARITATIS; [Sacrament of Love] OF THE HOLY FATHER BENEDICT XVI …

6. “The mystery of faith!” With these words, spoken immediately after the words of consecration, the priest proclaims the mystery being celebrated and expresses his wonder before the substantial change of bread and wine into the body and blood of the Lord Jesus, a reality which surpasses all human understanding. The Eucharist is a “mystery of faith” par excellence: “the sum and summary of our faith.” The Church’s faith is essentially a Eucharistic faith, and it is with the Risen Lord which takes place in the sacraments: “faith is expressed in the rite, while the rite reinforces and strengthens faith.” For this reason, the Sacrament of the Altar is always at the heart of the Church’s life: “thanks to the Eucharist, the Church is reborn ever anew!” The more lively the Eucharistic faith of the People of God, the deeper is its sharing in ecclesial life in steadfast commitment to the mission entrusted by Christ to his disciples. The Church’s very history bears witness to this. Every great reform has in some way been linked to the rediscovery of belief in the Lord’s Eucharistic presence among his people.” …. END QUOTE Precisely because of this reality; Catholics; similar to the Apostles are personally called by God; and are given a mission and the grace to fulfill it. “Seek and you shall find” it. Mark.4: 24-25 “And he said to them, “Take heed what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you. For to him who has will more be given; and from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

 My comments will include a few quotes from This Months “Adoremus Bulletin” [March 2011]]; from an article entitled: “Sacred Architecture: Encountering the Beauty and Mystery of God:” By his Eminence, Cardinal Justin Rigali.  Currently Archbishop of Philadelphia.   In addition, he is a member of several Roman- Curia departments; including the “Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.” I will show his quotes in Bold Print.

 I’d like to begin with a quote intended for “The Church Building,” but very much inline with our first category: “Church.” …“The mystery which we gather to reflect upon today is at once timely and timeless. Timely,  as Aime’-Georges Martimort has noted, “In our day the faithful have greater difficulty in achieving prayerful recollection and a sense of God’s presence.” At the root of this difficulty is a crisis, a contemporary crisis that surrounds the sacred. …”

 While the reference is specifically applied to “church buildings,” I think it is far more than just church architecture that is greatly influenced in the realm of all that touches us, and the practice of our Catholic Faith. “Secular – Humanism“, founded on Pride, [“I know more and or; I know better”] is manifested in many evil ways proving that Satan is real; is present; and is effective in turning a great many away from God. Even the Faithful are under constant attack. In the past fifty years; “Fallen away Catholics” have blossomed into the second largest “religious” group in America.

 Lev.11: 44 …“For I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy” … Mt. 5:48 “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect“.

In this one verse; we are taught the entire “Spiritual Message” of the entire bible. 1. ‘I AM God [there is no other: Exo. 34-14]  2. Dedicate yourself’ to Me 3. Be holy because I am Holy. This is impossible without confronting God, and  also, permitting God to confront you!

 Few if any of us have not heard about the necessity of having a “personal relationship with God.” But are you aware that God desires this far more than the most ardent believer? This fact is proven by our being a Creation of God; “in God‘s Image“ [Gen. 1:26]. To this possible end, God gives us [and only humanity] the attributes necessary to accomplish this. A Mind; a Intellect; a FREEWILL, and all these are intricately and permanently connected to our Souls. We are able to “love,” which no other creation of God can do. …Isaiah 43: 7-8 “every one who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” “Bring forth the people who are blind, yet have eyes, who are deaf, yet have ears!” and … Isaiah 43:21” the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise“.

 Catholic Catechism:

 1844 “By charity, we love God above all things and our neighbor as ourselves for love of God. Charity, the form of all the virtues, “binds everything together in perfect harmony” (Col 3:14).”

2658 “Hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Prayer, formed by the liturgical life, draws everything into the love by which we are loved in Christ and which enables us to respond to him by loving as he has loved us. Love is the source of prayer; whoever draws from it reaches the summit of prayer. In the words of the Cure of Ars

“ I  love you oh my God, and my only desire to love you with every breath of my life.

my infinitely lovable God I would rather die loving you, than live without loving you.

I love you, Lord, and the only grace I ask is to love you eternally …. God, if my tongue cannot say in every moment that I love you, I want my heart to repeat it to you as often as I draw breath.”

 In an Absolute Sense each of us must confront God, both on His Terms; and in a manner suitable to who we are; what we are, and where we are. What this means is that as a first step, we must do a “self-inventory” on our spiritual status. Where am I now? What areas can I make improvement in? What do I need to do to grow closer to my God? The second step is to “write a plan of action.”  Start small; when you have accomplished your goal; then set another one. ONE ATTAINABLE goal at a time. Take it seriously, and WORK at it. It would be a mistake to commit to something you can’t or would not do for a very long time. The key is to BE SUCCESSFUL and accomplish the goals you set for yourself. If you fail; ask God for more help and try again…. Small goals, build success; and success builds spiritual character …. Rom.5: 1-5  “Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us“. Putting it in writing tends to cement the obligation..

 Not only must we confront our God; but we must also confront ourselves. This self-evaluation MUST be candid, frank and sincere; if we are to benefit from the experience and Grow Closer to our God. SMALL steps will get us there much quicker than jumping around. Expect no improvement, no spiritual growth without prayer and without occasional personal sacrifices. When you hear of Catholics being referred to As “the church;” think about this as “what we ought to be perceived as being, by the way we live our life’s,” … we are to be the “light on the hillside for all to see.”

 It is always best to “meet God; where God Is.”…. spend some time in adoration on a set basis. But God is also where “we-are;“ when we are in the state of Grace. A more regular use of the Sacraments would be a GREAT benefit to your Spiritual growth. Regular Confession, daily Mass if possible for you [even once a week], and Adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. A disciplined prayer life is also critical. One of my favorite Saints: Saint Peter Julian Eymard has this to share about prayer: “PRAYER is the distinguishing characteristic of the Catholic Religion; it is the sign of the soul’s holiness; indeed it is its holiness. It both makes holy and is the first evidence of holiness. When you see someone living a life of prayer, you may say: “THERE GOES A SAINT”. “

 One additional thing we all might be mindful of is: What kind and how much light is my personal living -witness  giving to those who know that “I am a Catholic”, and those who might guess that we Love Jesus, by the way we live our life, and our faith?…..Matt.5: 15 Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house…. Matt.6: 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light;

 What and where we are currently is of far less important than where we choose to be and are willing to pay the price necessary to attain….. Ps.17: 13 “Arise, O LORD! confront them, overthrow them! Deliver my life from the wicked by thy sword,” [Grace.].

 Go back now and reread that quote from 1^st. Peter, above in the first paragraph, and take note of the fact that he speaks of a ‘”spiritual” house; not “Thee House / Thee church,” but a likeness of Her. Amen!

 Our Catholic Church is Know and distinguished by “Four Marks,” four independent but related charactaristics.

 She Is “One”, 2. She is “Holy” , 3. She is “Catholic” and 4. She is “Apostolic” What do these charisteristics actually mean?

 865 The Church is ultimately one, holy, catholic, and apostolic in her deepest and ultimate identity, because it is in her that “the Kingdom of heaven,” the “Reign of God,” already exists and will be fulfilled at the end of time. The kingdom has come in the person of Christ and grows mysteriously in the hearts of those incorporated into him, until its full eschatological manifestation. Then all those he has redeemed and made “holy and blameless before him in love,” will be gathered together as the one People of God, the “Bride of the Lamb,” “the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God.” For “the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”

 “One” Nowhere in the entire WORD of God, the Bible can we find a desire by Yahweh or Jesus Christ for belief in more than One God [Triune], One Faith [set of beliefs to be held and followed, and only One organization [Temple in the OT and “Church” in the NT]. … Mt. 16:18-19 “ And I [Jesus] tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, [SINGULAR] and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you [have now given you] the keys of the kingdom of heaven, [ALL access to heaven] and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” [This is the power to make, enforce or void laws and commands, and Teach with Authority.]

 “HOLY” we speak here of the Church “Herself” as a separate and living entity. The CHURCH CANNOT SIN, although her members can. She is the Bride of Christ, and like Christ is both Perfect* and Holy. “Perfect*” when ever she teaches on matters of Faith beliefs and or Morals. She [the Church is literally incapable of error in these TWO AREAS.] … John 14: 16-17 “ And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you.” … John 17:15-19 “ I [Jesus] do not pray that thou should take them out of the world, but that thou should keep them from the evil one.  Sanctify them in the truth; thy word is truth. As thou didst send me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth.”  Later Christ would use these identical words to Initiate the Founding of the CC. Note the transfer f Godly power and authority. Then Note that Christ literally gives HIMSELF as warranty for Her Truths.  No other religion, faith or church is actually founded by God [Jesus Christ Himself] except for His Catholic Church. Nor has any other faith or church been promised the Holy Spirit as Guardian and protector of Her Truths. Only the Catholic Church.

 “Catholic” The Church as we know it today was first termed “The Way.” …. How and why the name: ‘The Way” came into use… Matt.22: 16 And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Hero’di-ans, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true, and teach the way of God truthfully, and care for no man; for you do not regard the position of men. Mark.1: 3 “the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight — ” … John 14: 6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.” ….  Acts.24: 14 But this I admit to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the law or written in the prophets,”

Next we were called “Christians” Acts.11: 26 “and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church, and taught a large company of people; and in Antioch the disciples were for the first time called Christians” [around 80 to 90 A.D.], then in 110 AD the term ‘Catholic” was first used by Saint Ignatius of Antioch

The Word means “Universal.” And is necessary because of the mandate Jesus Gave to the Apostles. Matt. 28:19-20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”

 She is “Apostolic” [from our catholic catechism]

 857 “The Church is apostolic because she is founded on the apostles, in three ways:

– she was and remains built on “the foundation of the Apostles,” the witnesses chosen and sent on mission by Christ himself;

– with the help of the Spirit dwelling in her, the Church keeps and hands on the teaching, the “good deposit,” the salutary words she has heard from the apostles;

– she continues to be taught, sanctified, and guided by the apostles until Christ’s return, through their successors in pastoral office: the college of bishops, “assisted by priests, in union with the successor of Peter, the Church’s supreme pastor”:

You are the eternal Shepherd who never leaves his flock untended. Through the apostles you watch over us and protect us always. You made them shepherds of the flock to share in the work of your Son. . . .”

God Bless you,

Patrick

“The Invisible; visible” by Pat Miron … I am Catholic

“The Invisible; visible”

by Pat Miron …I am Catholic

 

Having endeavored for many years and in various ways to share our Catholic Faith, I have long been frustrated by biblical evidence that seems clear, concise and direct, yet is very often either ignored, denied, or misunderstood. I also know that God grants us two choices. Either we are in charge of our lives and after-lives, or He is. And this is not a shared responsibility. We either conform our lives to Gods way, or struggle with the consequence of trying to do it alone. But, just what God’s ways are seems to be the disputed factors. Can they be mutually agreed upon?

 

From “THE LIFE OF CHRIST”  By Archbishop Fulton Sheen

 

“The choice that lies before men is either the hypothesis of culpable insincerity or the fact that He spoke the literal truth and, therefore, MUST be taken at His word. … We must either lament His madness or adore His person, but we cannot rest on the assumption that He was a professor of ethical culture. Rather one can say with Chesterton, “expect the grass to wither and the birds to drop dead out of the air, when a strolling carpenter’s apprentice say’s calmly and almost carelessly, like one looking over his shoulder” “Before Abraham was I AM .”

 

What is to be our informed response to these challenges to our Catholic Faith beliefs? Even understanding that true Faith is a Gift from God; that God Himself must initiate this opportunity, and that without true Faith, right understanding is not possible.

 

Lets choose just three examples that make this point clear. 1. The belief of Only one God; One set of Faith-beliefs, and only One Church. 2. Belief in the “Real Presence.”  And 3. Confession and forgiveness of sins.

 

1. Nowhere in the entire bible does God; Yahweh or Christ so much as hint that belief in more than one God, or only one set of faith beliefs, or only one religious “body” is deemed acceptable. God’s undeserved Old Testament reputation as “mean and vengeful” stem from God’s intolerance of a perceived personal choice, held obstinately by the Hebrew nation and was the cause of necessary chastisement inflicted, time and time again, until obedience was accepted. The New Testament alone has over 100 references to Only One Church.

 

John.10: 16 “And I have other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd”

 

Eph. 4: 1-7 “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all lowliness and meekness, with patience, forbearing one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

 

Eph. 2:19-20 “So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,  in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”

 

2 Unbelief in the “Real Presence”

 

This is even more astounding because it requires ignoring not only the very words of Christ Himself, but also of Matthew 26:26-28, Mark 14: 22-24, Luke 22: 19-21, Paul 1^st. Corinthians 11:23-29, and all of John six. Notably verses 54-56: “he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.” [Which is precisely what takes place when worthily received.].

 

This denial of what seems to be an evident truth rest on a single verse; verse 63: “It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” And this is addressed by Christ personally in verses 53 through 58. Even Christ decision to allow many to abandon Him, and then invite Peter and the others to do the same is missed, with no denial of His truth being credited to Him as evidence of His words.

 

3. The forgiveness of sin [God’s way.]

 

This too is strange in that the words of Christ are so clear, and concise as to not permit misunderstanding. John.20: 23 “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” Support this with the Old Testament practice of using priest in a similar, albeit, less significant role, and grounds for not accepting this teaching seem founded on quicksand theology and misunderstood platitudes.

 

Lev.4: 20,26, 31 “Thus shall he do with the bull; as he did with the bull of the sin offering, so shall he do with this; and the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven. …] And all its fat he shall burn on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings; so the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin, and he shall be forgiven. …And all its fat he shall remove, as the fat is removed from the peace offerings, and the priest shall burn it upon the altar for a pleasing odor to the LORD; and the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be forgiven.

 

So what’s a Catholic to do? There are I hear, many thousands of Protestant communions, none of which agree with all three of these issues.

 

First we too must recognize that God is in charge and allow God to do the “heavy work.” This does not excuse our own involvement; but does limit the results we might expect.

 

Our response must exemplify extraordinary charity and patience. We should state our case clearly and support it biblically [as most other evidences will be denied], and then back off and pray for them. Yes we can challenge them and encourage them; but always carefully and prayerfully. Most importantly we must make evident our beliefs in how we live our faith.

 

God Bless,

Pat

Unapologetic Apologetic s by Pat Miron

 

Unapologetic Apologetic s

Another I Am a Catholic Lesson

by Pat Miron

My friends, have you ever contemplated Christ and the many Lessons He shared, both by His Mighty Words, which He confirmed by His actions?

Matthew 21: 11-13 “And the people said: This is Jesus the prophet, from Nazareth of Galilee.  And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the chairs of them that sold doves:  And he saith to them: It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves”

Matthew 3: 4-8 {John the Baptist} “And the same John had his garment of camels’ hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins: and his meat was locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea, and all the country about Jordan: And were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.  And seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them: Ye brood of vipers, who hath shewed you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruit worthy of penance”

Mark 1:14-15 “And after that John was delivered up, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying: The time is accomplished, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent, and believe the gospel.”

Our Blessed Lord’s life and message was not always “meek and mild”; but it was always shared with Love as the singular truth.

Hebrew’s 6: 8-10 “But that which bringeth forth thorns and briers, is reprobate, and very near unto a curse, whose end is to be burnt. But, my dearly beloved, we trust better things of you, and nearer to salvation; though we speak thus.  For God is not unjust, that he should forget your work, and the love which you have shewn in his name, you who have ministered, and do minister to the saints.”

Luke 3:17 “Whose fan is in his hand, and he will purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his barn; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire”

Matthew 13: 30 “Suffer both to grow until the harvest, and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers: Gather up first the cockle, and bind it into bundles to burn, but the wheat gather ye into my barn”

Luke 13:23-24 “And a certain man said to him: Lord, are they few that are saved? But he said to them: Strive to enter by the narrow gate; for many, I say to you, shall seek to enter, and shall not be able”

Matthew 7: 13-15 “Enter ye in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who go in thereat.  How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way {singular} that leadeth to life: and few there are that find it!  Beware of false prophets, who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”

Presumption is like a two sided coin. On the front side is man’s pride, and on the reverse side is man’s deduction. Both we Catholics and our non – catholic- Brethren, for different reasons   need to be cognizant of the grave risk that exist to our possible Damnation. God showing us perfect Wisdom choose always and every time:

One True God [Exodus 6:7]

Just One true set of Faith beliefs Duet. 4:40 & 26:17 & 1 Thess. 4:2 & Jn. 14:15

And One chosen people/ Church ….  Eph. 4: 1-7 “I therefore, a prisoner in the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation in which you are called, With all humility and mildness, with patience, supporting one another in charity. Careful to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  One body [means precisely that: Just One true Church] and one Spirit; as you are called in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, [means precisely that: Just one set of faith beliefs]   … one baptism. One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all. But to every one of us is given grace, according to the measure of the giving of Christ.

… & Acts 20:28-30 “ Take heed to yourselves, and to the whole flock, wherein the Holy Ghost hath placed you bishops, to rule the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. I know that, after my departure, ravening wolves will enter in among you, not sparing the flock. And of your own selves shall arise men speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.”

WHY?

Because when there is “just one”; everyone CAN know [with prayer for Wisdom]; God’s Teachings.  … Christ gave out just One set of Key’s to heaven’s Gate. Mt 16:18-19; Commanded just the Apostles and their successors [compare Mt. 10:6-7 to Mt, 28:16-20] to Cf. YOU GO! Teach the World ALL that  I taught/commanded YOU”. And promised the gates of Hell would never prevail against Her [Mt.16:18-19], and then sent the Apostles directly and exclusively in Mt. 10:1-8 & Mt. 28:16-20, Mark 16:14-15. The RCC has Jesus Himself as personal warranty of HER Teaching Only the Truth [John 17:11-26]. Something no other faith or church can claim and prove.

While we Catholics are offered God’s single truths, and have access to the key’s that can and do open heaven’s gate for us; gaining access is no assured thing. And for our grafted on Brethren, the risk is not praying for God’s Understanding and Wisdom; choosing instead to presume on God’s Mercy and Love to overrule His Attributes of Fairness and Justice, by accepting the Wolves in sheep’s clothing the Bible warns about.

We all live in calamitous times. The “Smoke of Satan Has entered into God’s Church” and like our Brethren, we Catholics too must be wary of “Wolves in Sheep’s clothing.” We do however have the huge benefit of Sacred Tradition to evaluate out teachers, as actually following the Magisterium to guide us. Our Brethren, must reply on prayers and make a sufficient effort to first uncover God’s Truth {singular per defined issue, being there guide} and then to discover it, accept it and make it their own.

Matthew 7:  19-25 “Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit, shall be cut down, and shall be cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them. Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. Many will say to me in that day: Lord, Lord, have not we prophesied in thy name, and cast out devils in thy name, and done many miracles in thy name? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity. Every one therefore that heareth these my words, and doth them, shall be likened to a wise man that built his house upon a rock, And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded on a rock.”

Matthew 11: 15 “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear”

Acts 28:24-27 “And some believed the things that were said; but some believed not.  And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, Paul speaking this one word: Well did the Holy Ghost speak to our fathers by Isaias the prophet, Saying: Go to this people, and say to them: With the ear you shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing you shall see, and shall not perceive. For the heart of this people is grown gross, and with their ears have they heard heavily, and their eyes they have shut; lest perhaps they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.”

The Lesson here is that just as one bible passage or teaching cannot override or invalidate any other passage or teaching; in this same way; God’s Mercy and Love cannot override or invalidate His need to be “Fair and Just.” God commits Himself to OFFER sufficient Grace to every Soul, that they might; that they can choose to accept and apply, in-order to merit their salvation.

“Once Saved; Always saved”; “saved by Faith alone or even Faith through Grace alone”; or the wish it could be true: “Christ already has done it all.”  … Each is a recent man-made invention; none of which align with God’s Plan for man’s salvation. Each of which is a ruse. And therefore extremely risky, and highly unlikely {but conditionally, not impossible} to actually accomplish what the wolf’s in sheep’s clothing give assurances of doing. So BE WARNED!

Question we need to be asking ourselves:

1. Where in the bible has God even one time approved of, tolerated, or accepted faith beliefs that differ from what He taught in the NT to the Apostles and who He commanded: “YOU GO! You Teach ALL that I taught to you?”

 

2. How do we reckon; how do we prove that God waited some 1,300+ YEARS for Wycliffe, Luther, Calvin or Smith to introduce His one set of Faith beliefs. And if He didn’t; what ought that be telling you?

 

3. How …  So then in the various Protestant communities: which ONE claims to be that One true Church? There are many hundreds to choose form.

 

4. Can there be different truths on the same defined issues? No. … Can God not hold only position on defined issues; and not the contradictory positions, imposed on Him and expected of Him by men?

 

“There cannot be your truth and my truth or there would be no truth”… Pope Benedict XVI.

5. If God desired everyone to be able to “self-interpret” His Bible [a Catholic book in origin, birthed by the Catholic Church]; why then are their so many different teachings and understandings of what the bible actually say’s and means. Where in the Bible does it give permission for just anyone and everyone to self-interpret the bible. … PLEASE READ: 2 Peter 1:19-21 “ And we have the more firm prophetical word: whereunto you do well to attend, as to a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: [20] Understanding this first, that no prophecy of scripture is made by private interpretation. [21] For prophecy came not by the will of man at any time: but the holy men of God spoke, inspired by the Holy Ghost.
6. Explained by Douay Catholic Bible: verse20:“No prophecy of scripture is made by private interpretation: This shews plainly that the scriptures are not to be expounded by any one’s private judgment or private spirit, because every part of the holy scriptures were written by men inspired by the Holy Ghost, and declared as such by the Church; therefore they are not to be interpreted but by the Spirit of God, which he hath left, and promised to remain with his Church to guide her in all truth to the end of the world. Some may tell us, that many of our divines interpret the scriptures: they may do so, but they do it always with a submission to the judgment of the Church, and not otherwise.”

It is thought-worthy notable that from the time of Christ Birth, Death and Resurrection and for 1,000 years thereafter; the ONLY Christian Church and Faith was today’s Catholic Church. And Protestantism with its many man-made versions of that One Set of Faith beliefs; exclusive to the Catholic Church did not gain a significant footing until Martin Luther in the late 16^th. Century.

So friends, is it at all possible that God waited 1,600 YEARS before He made His Teachings available? Of COURSE NOT! Yet that is the premise that Protestants must rely on to justify their own freely chosen beliefs. Mt. 16: 18-19 “And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. [19]And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.” God, dear friends cannot lie!

Mt. 28: 19-20 “Going therefore, teach YOU all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. [20]Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded YOU: and behold I am with YOU all days, even to the consummation of the world.”

John 17: 17-20 “Sanctify them in truth. Thy word is truth. [18] As thou hast sent ME into the world, I also have sent THEM into the world. [19] And for them do I sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. [20] And not for them only do I pray, but for them also who through their word shall believe in me”

If per chance you read these words, and then verify them in your own bible, but choose not to accept their meaning; you will be well advised to pray hard for the Gifts of the Holy Spirit that actually can save your Soul; which speaking in tongues cannot.

1^st. Cor. 14: [6] “ But now, brethren, if I come to you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, unless I speak to you either in revelation, or in knowledge, or in prophecy, or in doctrine? [19] But in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may instruct others also; than ten thousand words in a tongue. [23-25]If therefore the whole church come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in unlearned persons or infidels, will they not say that you are mad? But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or an unlearned person, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all. The secrets of his heart are made manifest; and so, falling down on his face, he will adore God, affirming that God is among you indeed.” AMEN!

Religious Conditioning: some random thoughts I Recently picked up in an article

Religious Conditioning

In the last few decades social researchers have discovered a truth contained in Scripture for millennia: beliefs lead to behaviors, behaviors create habits, and habits shape character. If we want right behaviors (orthopraxy) and upright character we need to start with right beliefs (orthodoxy)

 

Yet, nowhere is his regard for doctrine more ringing than when he says: “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

 

 Jesus stresses this connection in his final words when he commissions his disciples to “go and make disciples of all nations … teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

 

In the parable of the sower, Jesus warns his hearers about rootless faith stemming from the failure to take hold of gospel truths. It’s a warning he repeats in his discourse on the end times, as he urges his disciples to watch and understand so they won’t be deceived.

ON CHRIST THE SOLID ROCK by disciple120: reblogged

 

ON CHRIST THE SOLID ROCK by disciple120

1 My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus Christ, my righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

2 When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

3 His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.

4 When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in Him be found;
In Him, my righteousness, alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

 

Man Does Not Live by Bread Alone Peter Kwasniewski: re-blogged

 

Man Does Not Live by Bread Alone

Peter Kwasniewski

 

Far too often, people will hear fallen-away Catholics say something like this: “I stopped going to church because I just wasn’t being fed.” What do they mean by this statement? What might the metaphor of hunger and lack of nourishment be able to teach us?

Those who dwell in the ambit of traditional Catholicism will rarely hear someone say: “I left because I just wasn’t being fed.” The reason for the difference is staring us in the face. Mainstream Catholicism offers a meager diet, while traditional Catholicism offers a banquet.

The basic problem begins with the Protestantized notion of Mass as a meal. It is, of course, a wedding feast—but it is the bloody nuptials of the Cross that we are making present in our midst in an unbloody manner. What we are coming together for is not first and foremost a meal, but a solemn sacrifice to God, an offering of adoration, thanksgiving, propitiation, and impetration to the Most Holy Trinity through Jesus Christ the High Priest and Head of His Mystical Body. This is the act of religion into which the Christian is baptized and for which he is deputed on earth, to enjoy its fruits forever in heaven. It is by participating in this act that the Christian is fitted to be intimately united with the Savior in the Sacrament of His Passion, which contains, as St. Thomas Aquinas says, Christus passus, the Christ who suffered for our sins.

A meal, in and of itself, is not an act of worship or of any other aspect of the virtue of religion, although it can be an integral part of a series of acts that, taken together, deserve to be called divine worship. Put simply, what human nature needs and desires, and what God demands and deserves, is the immolation of our hearts on the altar of the Cross, in union with the God-Man. This is the union of faith and charity that precedes and indeed permits the one-flesh union of the Eucharistic banquet.[1]

Consequently, the theoretical and phenomenological reduction of the Mass to a meal—a reduction characteristic of the views and practices of so-called “progressive” liturgists—turns upside-down the ontological and psychological order in which Catholics are to enter into the liturgy. They ought to be entering into it with holy fear through the gates of abnegation and humility before the mystery of God irrupting into our midst upon a stone altar of sacrifice, all the while surpassing our every thought and word. The faithful ought to be plunged into hieratic ritual and a silence that makes skimming the surface or running along easy tracks impossible. They ought to be faced with an unmistakable testimony of their own insignificance and peripherality. They ought to see, feel, hear, smell, that God is more real than anything created because everything created is forced to bow to Him, point towards Him, gather around Him—so that, if He did not exist, the entire content of what we are doing and the manner in which it is being done would be absolutely senseless and downright insane.

None of this, take note, is about meals, food, or drink… that will come later. Eating bread and drinking wine are everyday activities that are taken up by Christ and given a wondrous role to play in the economy of salvation—but only for those who no longer see them as ordinary, who have been so steeped in, so saturated with the ineffable Divine Presence, or so provoked by its absence and their emptiness, that they are driven to hunger and thirst for God, the living God. “When shall I see Him face to face?” is the inner cry of one who, being studiously ignored by a minister who never makes eye contact, is learning the hard lesson that it is not about me, about my “being fed,” my being caressed with a message of comfort or harangued into social awareness.

I will be fed, deeply nourished and satisfied, only when I let go of myself and seek God, who is the soul’s mysterious food. It is the soul that informs the body, and it is therefore the soul with a hearty appetite for grace, which it may desire under many different names and in many different ways, that renders a body susceptible to sacramental nutriment. This is why Jesus says, in a verse Protestants often misunderstand: “It is the spirit that quickeneth: the flesh profiteth nothing” (Jn 6:64). If we are not present in our souls to the Presence of the Lord, with living faith and actual devotion, our bodily action of walking up to receive a host or drink from a cup will profit us nothing. Nay rather, as St. Paul warns: “He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord. Therefore are there many infirm and weak among you, and many sleep” (1 Cor 11:29–30).[2]

Some conclusions are inescapable. Man does not live by bread alone—even the Bread of Life. If we created a religion out of endless communion services, it would not be a religion suitable for man, nor would it be the religion instituted by Christ. In order to be properly nourished by the living bread of God, we must be duly prepared to receive it and profit from it. We are prepared through doctrine and devotion, through asceticism and aesthetics. The Latin prayers and chants, the liturgical gestures and postures, praying with Scripture and the Rosary, all of these build up in us an appetite and an aptitude for the Bread of God, and enable its flavor and nutriment to linger in us. We have to exercise the tongue, teeth, jaws, and muscles of our minds before we are ready to exercise those of our bodies, or at least we need to be doing both together; mere eating of a sacrament is no guarantee of any efficacy whatsoever. All the eating in the world will not divinize the soul as long as intellect and will are not focused on, engaged with, and tethered to the mysteries out of which the liturgy is woven.

The liturgy woven out of these mysteries will not be just any human attempt at actualizing the virtue of religion, a “do-it-yourself” liturgy, but will necessarily be one of the traditional liturgical rites of the Church, Eastern or Western. These rites began with the apostles and matured through centuries of men and women exercising this virtue in union with Christ and one another, and by the guiding power of the Holy Spirit. Just as man is a body-soul composite, so too is worship a body-soul composite: as the human soul informs the human body, so does tradition inform the “body,” or external manifestations, of the liturgy. If we want a truly Christian liturgy, therefore, it soul must be Catholic, i.e., not a product of a human committee sponsored by ecclesiastical authority, but the result of the organic development of apostolic tradition spread across time and space, and thus truly universal or catholic (kata holos, according to the whole). This is the liturgy to which the Catholic soul is proportioned by its baptism, which not only equips the believer for communion with the entire Church, triumphant, suffering, and militant, past, present, and future, but also inclines him to act and suffer as a member of the whole Body.

It is not surprising, then, that one who has been so equipped and is so inclined by the character of baptism will find it nearly impossible to be satisfied with a liturgy that is not catholic or universal in the manner described—indeed, that is not even liturgical in the full sense of the word. He may not be able to describe the problem; he may not even be consciously aware of the problem as a problem; he may become bored, have doubts, get lazy, drift away, and eventually find himself among the “nones” about which Bishop Barron manages to speak so voluminously without ever identifying the deepest underlying cause, which is the dissolution (or, at least, banishment and inaccessibility) of the normal and normative way by which Christians encounter the transcendent mystery of God, the splendor of Christ, the gentle but insistent pull of the Holy Spirit.[3]

The fallen-away is someone who “just isn’t being fed”—and why? It is not religion he is rejecting, nor adoration, nor a quiet place under the Tree of Life; he is rejecting the ersatz religion of the table of plenty, the social trough, the bread and circus. Would that he could encounter religion for the first time! Would that he could worship in fear and trembling, resting at the foot of the glorious Cross, and have nothing to do with “meals” and “suppers” at which, even today, the Son of Man is betrayed!

The pretense has reached Orwellian levels when you have a college theology professor writing a book called Bored Again Catholic: How the Mass Could Save Your Life in which the author accepts, as a given, that the liturgy will bore youths, and then encourages them to “embrace” the boredom. Why do we have to pretend that the Bugnini-liturgy is not at fault, that it is not largely responsible for this epidemic of boredom? That our situation is the fault of everyone and everything else—but has no essential connection with the ill-starred liturgical reform, which went light-years beyond (or beneath) anything even broached in the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium? Does the fact that millions of Catholics walked away in the sixties and seventies, and that the mainstream Church continues to experience paltry success in attracting or retaining young people, really have nothing to do with the radical make-over of our divine worship, to the point that it seemed neither divine nor worshipful?

The evidence is in; we are, in fact, drowning in it. If authors are admitting that the new liturgy is boring and that young people can hardly become interested in it, they are giving away the game. If, in contrast, young people and young families are found in abundance wherever the traditional Mass has been allowed to take root, they are testifying to the same truth from the opposite angle: this rich majestic old Latin liturgy has a power of attraction, a spirit of mystery, a palpable beauty, a plenitude of prayer that the modern anorexic version lacks. The one is “fat” and nourishes, the other thin and fails to feed.

Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God—including the liturgical tradition that He conceived in His wisdom and uttered in His Providence.

NOTES

[1] See my article “The Priority of Religion and Adoration over Communion”, published October 9, 2017 at New Liturgical Movement.

[2] Catholics who attend the traditional liturgy will have this apostolic warning placed before their consciences at least three times a year. The architects of the Novus Ordo, however, made sure that these verses appear nowhere in the entire liturgy, at any time. See my article “The Omission that Haunts the Church—1 Corinthians 11:27–29,” published April 11, 2016, at New Liturgical Movement.

[3] In his Erasmus Lecture “Evangelizing the Nones,” Bishop Barron eruditely identifies various cultural contributors to modern irreligiosity—but never mentions the elephant in the room: the dumbed-down, totally inadequate liturgy that we are supposed to pretend is at the center of our lives, but that wouldn’t be enough to sustain a false religion, let alone the true one. I suspect that Desiderius Erasmus, had he been able to hear this lecture named after him, would at least have raised a skeptical eyebrow, if not launched full-tilt into a withering satire.

END QUOTES

Where is God’s Truth? Another . I AM a Catholic Lesson By Patrick Miron

 

Baptism of Infants

                      Where is God’s Truth?

Another I AM a Catholic Lesson

By Patrick Miron

 

Mark.16:16” He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.”

John.3: 5 “Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”

 

There are some Christian Faiths that do not Baptize Infants or young children; or at least do not advocate such a practice; one assumes based on Mark 16:16 {above.} But is that really what God desires? Or perhaps it’s the consideration of sinfulness and the fact that Sacramental Baptism removes ALL prior sins; and babies and infants cannot sin until they reach the age of reason? One further assumes that such Christian churches disavow the Dogma of Original sin which God imposes on every human Soul at conception.

Genesis 1:26-27 teaches us that God Created humanity in His very own image:

[26] “And he said: Let us make man to our image and likeness: and let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth. [27] And God created man to his own image: to the image of God he created him: male and female he created them”

The term “man” in this context obviously means “ALL humanity” and is all-inclusive; and not age discrimitory.

So the question then becomes one of personal interpertation because the two quoted passages in this lesson’s opening seem to be contradict each other.Might one or both be incomplete teachings is some manner?

1. There does exist an elementy – Infallible Rule for right understanding of the bible

Never, ever, can,may or does one Bible verse, passage or teaching have the power or authority to contradict, override, invalidate or make void another verse, passage or teaching. Were such even a possibility{its NOT!}, it would render the entire bible as worthless to teach of learn Christ Faith.

2. 2 Peter 1: 18-21

[18] And this voice we heard brought from heaven, when we were with him in the holy mount. [19] And we have the more firm prophetical word: whereunto you do well to attend, as to a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: [20] Understanding this first, that no prophecy of scripture is made by private interpretation. [21] For prophecy came not by the will of man at any time: but the holy men of God spoke, inspired by the Holy Ghost.

DOUAY BIBLE INTERPERATION

[20] “No prophecy of scripture is made by private interpretation”: This shews plainly that the scriptures are not to be expounded by any one’s private judgment or private spirit, because every part of the holy scriptures were written by men inspired by the Holy Ghost, and declared as such by the Church; therefore they are not to be interpreted but by the Spirit of God, John 17:17-20 which he hath left, and promised to remain with his Church {meaning directly and exclusively the Roman Catholic Church}  to guide her in all truth to the end. Mt. 28:19-20 END QUOTES

Infant Baptism

The seemingly imposed condition of a requirement “He who believes and is baptized will be saved” is fulfilled in proxy by both the God-Parents and the actual Parents having their child Baptized. Why and how is this true?

Why: It is clear that our God intends that both male and females; that is that “all humanity”- none excluded be saved. 1 Timothy 2:4; hence it is logical when GOD uses the term “all”; he literally does mean “ALL.” {Without imposed age conditions.}

How: As mentioned above infant Baptism by and through the proxy of both the God-Parents and the Parents who herein commit to a self-imposed Grave Moral-obligation to insure this infant {child} is raised in the Faith, so that later in Sacramental- Confirmation; that child now at the age of reason can freely choose and affirm the faith themselves.

4. 3. God alone is the author of ALL life and the determiner of death. We all know that not every sexual act between and man and a women {even unprotected sex}, will not result in a pregnancy. WHY is that? It is because God has given women a fertile and a non- fertile period each month, so that HE, God, remains the author and determiner of Life.
5. What are the consequences of not having a child or infant Baptized?

Those knowledgeable of the Bible are familiar with the story of Adan and Eve and how they failed God and were kicked out of the Garden of Eden {Gen. 3:23-24} which was conditionally locked-out to everyone as a consequence of their Original sin and its consequences which included death, sickness, hard-work,  and many more test-enduring consequences. God choose to impose in Divine Justice ALL of these things and more; would He not also impose some other GRAVE-Spiritual-penalty that also affected humanity? Jesus Himself affirms that He did exactly that:

John.3: 5 “Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”

Once again we see and can know that in saying “I say to YOU”; that He means to include, without exception “ALL” of humanity; regardless of age. Hence we ought to take this command very seriously.

The Penalty for unbaptized babies and infants is to deprive them of Heaven; should, God forbid, they die without Baptism. For a parent or religious beliefs to assume THAT responsibility is at best misguided.

2Tim.4 Verses 1 to 4 “[1] I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:
[2] preach the word, be urgent in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, and exhort, be unfailing in patience and in teaching. [3] For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings, [4] and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myth”

2Pet.2 Verses 1 to 2 “[1] But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.
[2] And many will follow their licentiousness, and because of them the way of truth will be reviled”

2Cor.9:[13]” Under the test of this service, you will glorify God by your obedience in acknowledging the gospel of Christ, and by the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others”

John.21 Verses 15 to 17 “[15] When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” [16] A second time he said to him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” [17] He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.”

John.17 Verses 17 to 20 “[17] Sanctify them in the truth; thy word is truth.
[18] As thou didst send me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.
[19] And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth. [20] “I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word”

Matt.28 Verses 19 to 20 “[19] Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
[20] teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”

The meaning of Mark 16:16 become clear in the weight of all of the other evidence. Infants too are to be Baptized as soon as feasible after birth so that heaven forbid they die; they Can and WILL ascend directly into heaven. Not myth; but FACT.

Blessings,

Patrick

Is Orthopraxy All that Matters? REGIS NICOLL: re-blogged {emphasis mine}

Is Orthopraxy All that Matters?

REGIS NICOLL

In “Unpracticed Faith is Functional Atheism,” I addressed one error in the Church: heteropraxy—that is, the belief in right doctrine (orthodoxy) without the pursuit right living (orthopraxy). Now I turn to the equal and opposite error—orthopraxy divorced from orthodoxy—which is a reaction to the first.

Sadly, heteropraxy has been a problem in the Church from the beginning. Reports of quarreling, drunkenness, and sexual immorality, prompted Paul on numerous occasions to remind Christians to live out their faith in accordance with Jesus’ teachings. Two thousand years hence, whether it’s the latest scandal by clergy or immoral character of laity, the same struggle persists irrespective of church brand and affiliation.

This mismatch between teaching and practice has led to the rise of the “nones,” the “dones” (self-exiles from Catholic and Protestant churches who self-identify as Christian, but remain ecclesially unaffiliated) and the “spiritual, but not religious” crowd swept up in the postmodern moment, piously espousing, “what’s important is how one lives, not what one believes.”

It is a sentiment that collapses under cursory examination.

Golden Rule Ethics
The sentiment immediately begs the question: “Important to whom?” Unless the answer points beyond man and his institutions, the “rightness” of any practice, be it sexual behavior, substance use, divorce, polygamy, or even slavery, is a matter of what is legally permissible according to the prevailing winds of social fashion and convention. Without a transcendent point of reference, a culture that believes in loving one’s neighbor has no moral authority over another culture that believes eating one’s neighbor is okay.

What about the Golden Rule, the common thread in all moral codes?

The problem with the Golden Rule is in the definition of one’s “neighbor.” Are my neighbors those in my family, ethnic group, community, church, country, or are they members of the global village, including the least, the last, the disabled, the unborn, and the dying?

Spanning the worldview spectrum, while the principle of fairness or reciprocity implicit in the Golden Rule is universal, the concept of “neighbor” is not. Rather, it varies from the members of one’s household to all of mankind. Consequently, despite its general esteem, the Rule has done little to keep individuals and civilizations from colliding.

Indeed, divergent beliefs about who does and who does not deserve neighborly consideration have been behind every conflict from Cain and Abel to modern day Jihadists. Unhinged from doctrine, the Golden Rule is powerless to produce a moral people or just society.

In fact, following an alluring Golden Rule logic, one can easily conclude that “loving neighbor as self” means sparing him from any consequence I would want to be spared from—like being confronted about my sinful behavior.

Founded Upon Doctrine
The Golden Rule is not a moral superstructure, but an ethical framework that needs a roof, floor, walls, plaster, and paint. What’s more, it needs the firm foundation of doctrine.

Jesus introduced the Rule in his Sermon on the Mount; and although the “crowd” was in earshot, the whole discourse was directed to his disciples. It’s an important distinction. The disciples were daily absorbing the vital connection between teaching (orthodoxy) and life application (orthopraxy).

For Christ’s followers, the definition of one’s neighbors and the manner of loving them was not up to guesswork or personal preference—it was according to Jesus’ teachings: “Whoever welcomes a little child,” “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine,” “love each other as I have loved you,” and most bracingly, “love your enemies.”

Common Pitfalls
Everything we do, we do for a reason. The moral thing is doing the right thing for the right reason.

Giving a drunk a drink is doing the wrong thing (enabling his drunkenness) for the right reason (out of compassion). The same goes for counseling a homosexual to seek a committed same-sex partnership in order to avoid the hazards of the gay lifestyle (I personally knew a pastor who did so). But the opposite error—doing the right thing for the wrong reason—is equally immoral.

Attending church is a good thing, but doing so because it’s good for business, the wife expects it, the kids need it, or because of the great preaching and special music are all wrong reasons. Likewise, spending Thanksgiving at the community kitchen to serve the homeless is a good thing. Doing so to rub elbows with the mayor who will be carving the turkey is the wrong reason.

Then there’s the problem of good things that conflict with one’s beliefs. That’s hypocrisy. Sharing the gospel is good. But done by someone who doesn’t buy it himself is hypocritical to the extreme.

In the last few decades social researchers have discovered a truth contained in Scripture for millennia: beliefs lead to behaviors, behaviors create habits, and habits shape character. If we want right behaviors (orthopraxy) and upright character we need to start with right beliefs (orthodoxy).

Jesus’ View
It can be surprising to learn that the Gospels expend more bandwidth on what Jesus taught than on what he did. In some instances, like the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’ teaching spans multiple chapters. Even after his resurrection, Jesus spends a seven-mile journey expositing scripture to two fellow travelers on a dusty road to Emmaus.

Yet, nowhere is his regard for doctrine more ringing than when he says: “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

While parables like the sheep and goats and the wheat and tares convey the importance of our conduct (orthopraxy)—it is, again, conduct in keeping with Jesus’ teaching (orthodoxy). Jesus stresses this connection in his final words when he commissions his disciples to “go and make disciples of all nations … teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

To be sure, Jesus was concerned about how people lived, but he was equally concerned about what they believed. Repeatedly, Jesus challenges his listeners to search the scriptures to understand the times and recognize the road signs ahead. He even warns that they will be held accountable for such knowledge.

After his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Jesus weeps for his countrymen for not recognizing the “time of God’s coming.” On several occasions he scolds the religious establishment for either not knowing or not believing what the scriptures had to say about him. In the parable of the sower, Jesus warns his hearers about rootless faith stemming from the failure to take hold of gospel truths. It’s a warning he repeats in his discourse on the end times, as he urges his disciples to watch and understand so they won’t be deceived.

Faith without works is dead. But faith without doctrine is no faith at all—it’s conformance with the cultural drift that carries us along the stream of fashion until we settle out in the sediment of a distant shore, who knows where and when. Rather, moral actions are those grounded in beliefs that flow from a transcendent moral perspective. Absent of that, there is no ortho- in orthopraxy.

Orthopraxy? By all means. We Christians need to do a better job of aligning our hands with our heads. And that begins by making sure that what’s in our heads is aligned with Scripture and historical Church teaching.

Editor’s note: Pictured above is “Sermon on the Mount” painted by Cosimo Rosselli, ca. 1481.

Thee “Church”; Portal of Salvation another I AM a Catholic shared lesson by Patrick Miron

 

According to Strong’s Greek Lexicon Search Results for the word “church” [1577]

It means: A compound of 1537 and a derivative of 2564; A CALLING OUT, i.e. [concretely a popular meeting}, especially a religious congregation {Jewish Synagogue, or a Christian community of members on earth or saints in heaven, or both… [an] assembly, church”

This perspective comes too, from my friend Marianne. {a Church Historian} Pagans had their Temples; Jews their Synagogues and Catholics [the first Christians], their “Church.” In Greek: { ekklesia ek-klay-see’-ah}  That Christ deemed it important , even necessary, to use a different word to describe what He was founding through Peter; is highly indicative of the fact that this was something New and Different. It was Christ intent that this fact not be overlooked.

The Catholic Church… Portal of all salvation

This document was prompted by a discussion on the CAF Forum about salvation through the Catholic Church. As ought to be expected the root of the problem leading to this discussion is both a lack of clarity within the bible [God caused this by specific intent], further aggravated by what some wish to belief, and self- enabled to do so only by culling passages that seem to support their position; while ignoring or not knowing that contradictory teachings exist in the same book.

 Yet in the strictest sense of the word; we are truly “Brethren”. We share a common belief in One True God; The Blessed Trinity and a common Baptism, by water and in the name of the Trinity. And we ought to take seriously their love of God. While some branches of Christianity do not adhere to these essential elements and are further endangering their salvation. There is no substitute for charity. There would be no Christian faiths, were Catholicism not preexistent.

 This discussion seemed to me to elicit two important questions: 1. Why & 2. How?

So let us begin our own discussion by once again repeating the “Infallible Rule” for right understanding of the bible.

 “Never-Ever, can, may or Does one passage, verse, or teaching

  Have the power or authority to invalidate, override, or make void   

  another,

  passage, verse or teaching.”

 If this were even a possibility [it’s not] it would render the entire bible as worthless for teaching or learning ones faith.

  So if one seems to encounter such a teaching, be assured that it stems from Not using the entirety of God’s WORDS. … Jesus answered: “ It is written, Not in bread alone doth man live, but in every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God” Which in turn leads to 2^nd. Timothy 3:16-17 “All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work”

 My dear friend Marianne has shared a bit of insight, as she herself is a convert from Christianity. She explains that a core cause is a complete, or near complete ,lack of understanding of God’s grace. What it is; what it can do, and how it is received.

 “. I trace their blindness about the Church to that core issue. Because they don’t know what grace is, they don’t recognize that humans are born without it due to Original Sin. And because they don’t know what it is, they don’t understand that the Christian life is created and sustained by God pouring grace into us. And because they don’t understand THAT, they don’t see the point of the sacraments, whose point is to allow God to pour grace into us. I trace their inability to understand the sacraments, their purpose, and value to this foundational blindness about what grace is and how we get it.”

 Because one can find and cull passages that seem to indicate salvation for “all”; and because even the passages that seemingly contradict it with “many” are assumed to include them, with little evident effort to seek truth beyond what seems to them as “the obvious”, and because non-Catholic Christians tend to lump the bibles teachings on the topic of salvation as including both “Redemption” and “Salvation” being synonymous terms, which they are not; …the Devil IS hiding in the details.

Matt.22: 14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.” Matt.26: 28 “for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” Mark.10: 45 “For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Luke.13: 24 “Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able”

John.1: 7 “He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him.”  Heb.9: 12 he entered once for all into the Holy Place, taking not the blood of goats and calves but his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.”  1Pet.3: 18 “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit” Eph.1: 7 “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace”

REDEMPTION

1 Timothy 2: 6 “Who gave himself [as] a redemption for all, a testimony in due times” Mark 10:45 “For the Son of man also is not come to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a redemption for many”

 SALVATION

Titus 11:2 is rendered thus in the Douay Bible: “For the grace of God our Saviour hath appeared to all men”; In the Catholic RSV one reads the following:“ For the grace of God has appeared for the salvation of all men,” & The King James reads: “ For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men” …Hebrews 5:9 reads “And being consummated, he became, to all that obey him, the cause of eternal salvation” and The King James: “And being made perfect , he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him… Romans 1:16 teaches “For I am not ashamed of the gospel. For it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth: to the Jew first and to the Greek”. The King James reads the same here”. So salvation seems to be clearly conditional; seemingly not a problem for our non-Catholic Brethren who often lump themselves into both the “all” and the “many” categories.

 The lack of a single clear message here is evidence of the Wisdom of God, and proof of a Divinely Inspired bible. 2 Timothy 3:16-17.  … Christ was not inventing something “as new” in setting up His Catholic church, Matthew 16:15-19, He was in fact following His Own, Old Testament model for rightful and faithful practice of religion, where Yahweh freely selected only One chosen people, gave them only One set of faith beliefs and declared that He Alone would be their God.

 Lev. 26: 12  “I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people.” Exodus 15:26 “Saying: If thou wilt hear the voice of the Lord thy God, and do what is right before him, and obey his commandments, and keep all his precepts, none of the evils that I laid upon Egypt, will I bring upon thee” Lev. 18: 4 “You shall do my judgments, and shall observe my precepts, and shall walk in them. I am the Lord your God.”

 God obligates himself to be merciful and fair

Luke.12: 51 “Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division” John.5: 43 “I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive” John.3: 36 “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God rests upon him”,  Matt. 19:17 …”If you would enter life, keep the commandments.”

Christ chose to manifest His Divine Mercy and charity by sticking to the Old Testament model of just, and only …”One”.  After all when there is only “one” there are no room for debates, or envy, and only one boss, with clear direction. That is precisely why God has always chosen “just one”. Then it’s His One way or it’s the wrong way.

One God: 1Tim.2: 5 “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”

 One Faith: Eph. 4: 5 “one Lord, one faith, one baptism”

One Church: Matt 16:18-19 “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, [SINGULAR]  and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you [SINGULAR]  the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 28: 16-19 “And the eleven disciples [Apostles] went into Galilee, unto the mountain where Jesus had appointed them.  And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying: All power is given to me in heaven and in earth.  Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have [taught &] commanded you: and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.”

Hopefully, I have now answered the “WHY?” question.  Because God’s infinite and perfect wisdom choose only one, God; Faith and Church, so man could [& would] know where to find Christ truth. It then follows logically that because Redemption is offered to “All” and Salvation to the Many who hear and obey fully His teachings, precepts, Commandments and Mandates, that it HAS to flow through the Only Church and Faith that He founded under the New Covenant,  which supersede but do not replace OT Covenants. It is completely logical that because Salvation is from Christ; that it must FLOW through the only Church and Faith of Christ. READ: John 17:14-20.

Heb. 9: 15  “Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred which redeems them from the transgressions under the first covenant” Therefore ALL salvation must necessarily flow through the Catholic church; which is not proclaiming that all, necessarily, be actual members of Her. Still The Catholic Church has an essential role to fulfill in everyone’s salvation. That is WHY the CC is the Portal to ALL Salvation, and why this teaching has always been and continues to be a Doctrine of our Catholic Church.

So now I will attempt to clarify the “How“-  Question?

 From our Catholic catechism:

 CCC 780 “The Church in this world is the sacrament of salvation, the sign and the instrument of the communion of God and men.”

 CCC 846 “How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church Fathers? Re-formulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body:

 Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it”.

 CCC 847 “This affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and his Church:

 Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience – those too may achieve eternal salvation.”

 CCC 1260 “Since Christ died for all, and since all men are in fact called to one and the same destiny, which is divine, we must hold that the Holy Spirit offers to all the possibility of being made partakers, in a way known to God, of the Paschal mystery.” Every man who is ignorant of the Gospel of Christ and of his Church, but seeks the truth and does the will of God in accordance with his understanding of it, can be saved. It may be supposed that such persons would have desired Baptism explicitly if they had known its necessity”

From this we ought to be able to understand the complexity of the TASK of Fair and Just Judgment God has created for Himself. Only God is able to judge our thoughts, motives and hearts. And because God MUST BE both fair and just; he alone is able to make a just and fair judgment on all; but especially those outside of the Catholic Church. … That “particular”- Judgment has to factor in not only our personal chosen beliefs and practices; but of critical importance, the OPPORTUNITY God has and must give to each of us to actually know his singular truth, His one- Faith in His one -Church. This is especially relevant to all those outside of His Catholic Church who choose not to be members of Her for a variety of reasons that THEY determined as important and relevant to themselves. Will God agree with them and their motives, seems to be the unanswered question?

James 3: 13- 18”Who is a wise man, and endued with knowledge among you? Let him shew, by a good conversation, his work in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter zeal, and there be contentions in your hearts; glory not, and be not liars against the truth. For this is not wisdom, descending from above: but earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and contention is, there is inconstancy, and every evil work. But the wisdom, that is from above, first indeed is chaste, then peaceable, modest, easy to be persuaded, consenting to the good, full of mercy and good fruits, without judging, without dissimulation. And the fruit of justice is sown in peace, to them that make peace.”

Psalm 94: 11 “And these men have not known my ways: so I swore in my wrath that they shall not enter into my rest.  Psalm 118: 5 “O! that my ways may be directed to keep thy justifications” Ezek.  18:25 “And you have said: The way of the Lord is not right. Hear ye, therefore, O house of Israel [people]: Is it my way that is not right, and are not rather your ways perverse?”

Isaiah 55:9 “For as the heavens are exalted above the earth, so are my ways exalted above your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts.”

A final word of advice to my fellow Catholics. Because we are given so much more than our Brethren; especially Sacramental graces, & Jesus Himself in Person in the Most Holy Eucharist, very much more is to be expected from us. Matt. 13:11-12 “Who answered and said to them: Because to you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven: but to them it is not given. For he that hath, to him shall be given, [very much more] and he shall abound: but he that hath not, from him shall be taken away that also which he hath.”

the “Ones” add up to a highER probability of salvation.

One God- One Faith- One Church- One set of keys to heaven and only one

    Portal; Christ Catholic Church. Amen