This IS our Faith…
What has long begun continues
Matthew 20: 32 “[32] And Jesus stood, and called them, and said: What will ye,that I do to you? [33] They say to him: Lord, that our eyes be opened. [34] And Jesus having compassion on them, touched their eyes. And immediately they saw, and followed him.”
Lesson #16 (b) to be mailed August 18th. 2019
The Beauty, the Majesty, the Glory, & the Mystery Ensconced in the Wonder and Awe of our beautiful Catholic Faith: the original “Christian” Faith (1st. Cor. 11:23-25) ; and The Faith desired and established by Jesus Personally; Who commanded His Catholic Church to lead Souls to Him. Matthew 28:19-20
THIS is where we come “Face to face” with our GOD; while we are still pilgrims here on earth.
(Ought anyone to settle for less?)
This weeks’ Bible reflection:
1st.Cor. 11:23-30
[23] For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. [24] And giving thanks, broke, and said: Take ye, and eat: this is my body, which shall be delivered for you: this do for the commemoration of me. [25] In like manner also the chalice, after he had supped, saying: This chalice is the New Testament in my blood: this do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of me.
[26] For as often as you shall eat this bread, and drink the chalice, you shall shew the death of the Lord, until he come. [27] Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord. [28] But let a man prove himself: and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the chalice. [29] For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord. [30] Therefore are there many infirm and weak among you, and many sleep. (Here this term means have died and chosen by their choices Eternal Hell.)”
This week’s Lesson is “Christians, Questions and Catholic answers: (“The 10 ( I made it 11) most common questions non-Catholics ask of Catholics, that as Catholic Apologists we’re asked for the bible inspired replies.) …. These Will be in two Lessons’ questions 1-5; & questions 6-11 (Today 1-5)
10 (now 11) Frequently Questions asked of & to Catholics…(and how to reply to them with Biblically clarity and Catholic charity)
Are YOU an IFPC? (Informed and FULLY practicing Catholic? Do you wish to be one / or a better one?
Right at the START of this, I profess that the idea for this lesson was pilfered from a pass-out that I had stuffed into my Bible some time ago and had forgotten about. However in reading it, it had a few points that I think require more clarity. This information though is such that God Willing many (all) Catholics ought to be able to explain a proper response. I will use many Bible references, because what I share IS Biblically grounded, and because it is very likely that many of those asking are from some “Bible Church” (Sola Scriptura); which isn’t one of the questions, but which I will add as #11). Learning these responses will require some effort of your part; but then all “good things”, as a rule do. Don’t get hung up on the precise bible quotes, unless you’re able too, knowing what books they are in ought to be sufficient.
The Pass-out listed these questions from #10 to #1; while I will do the opposite from #1 to #11. The first thing to do when asked ANY of these questions is to thank the person or people asking them. Their interest is most likely Holy Spirit Inspired. The second thing to remember is that they WILL BE seeking Bible evidence for our replies; hence I suggest we begin with a brief discussion about the Bible being a “Catholic birthed book,” Bible FACTS to share: 1. The Bible is a Catholic birthed book by which we mean to say that it was Catholics who assembled and selected the original 43 Old Testament books, and it was Catholics who authored the ENTIRE New Testament’s 27 books; five of whom are Apostles: Matthew, John, Peter, James and Paul, ... The bible was FULLY authored around the end of the First Century; however it was not collected into a book of 73 “Works” until the Fourth Century DUE TO extreme persecution and the wide dispersion of the Apostles and the Bishops and priest that they Ordained.
2 Because of this the early Catholic Church was taught largely by word of mouth for several hundreds of years, sharing and explaining repetitions of what THEY HAD BEEN INSPIRED TO TEACH, and had been taught themselves; largely by WORD of Mouth. Surely some of the New Testament letters may have been used, depending on their availability as they became written to be shared. It was the Holy Spirit who assured and Inspired the truthfulness and completeness of what was taught. Paul’s letter to Timothy are an example. (John 14:26; 16:13; & 1 Timothy 1-20)
3 The Protestant Reformation took place in the 16th Century, LONG after the Catholic Bible had been in existence and fully-accepted in very wide usage. It is fair to say that if there were no Catholic Bible; there would be no King James Bible whose authors copied most of the Catholic Douay Bible changing, or omitting only what they disagreed with. What didn’t support what THEY desired to be taught as “new-truth’s.” Originally Luther choose to leave out SEVEN entire books which were “too Catholic” for HIS liking. … This information may be new information to them, or at least information not given careful thought by them. (BTW: Luther was a Catholic WELL EDUCATED in Catholicism and Monk).
ALWAYS say a brief prayer for guidance from the HS to assist you before you open your mouth in reply (Holy Spirit PLEASE help me)
I am inspired to insert a quote from Saint Mother Theresa of Calcutta prior to every question, simply to share the Wisdom of a Catholic Saint who lived in OUR Life-times, for our edification.
“The more we are able to store up in our hearts by silent prayers, the more we will be able to give out in our work. We need silence in order to touch people. The essential thing is not what we say, but what God says to us and through us. All our words are useless if they don’t come from inside. Words that do not spread Christ LIGHT, add to the DARKNESS.” Saint Mother Theresa of Calcutta
Question #1 “WHERE IS THE TERM “CATHOLIC” IN THE BIBLE” (Light-heartily I reply that you’ll find it “right next to” the terms “Bible and Protestant, which also are not in the “Bible.”
Here I reference John 20: 30-31 and John 21: 23-24 (these are the last two verses in both chapters, so it’s easy to remember) and CLEARLY point out that “not everything” is, or even WAS intended to be included in the Bible.
Jn. 20:30-31“[30]Many other signs also did Jesus in the sight of his disciples, which are not written in this book. [31] But these are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God: and that believing, you may have life in his name.”
Jn. 21: 24-25 “ [24] This is that disciple who giveth testimony of these things, and hath written these things; and we know that his testimony is true.[25] But there are also many other things which Jesus did; which, if they were written every one, the world itself, I think, would not be able to contain the books that should be written.”
Then I explain that the Bible was fully authored by the end of the 1st. Century; (before this theological term had evolved.) BUT because of SEVERE persecutions by both the Jewish Priesthood who were trying to protect their religions-base (the only religion of practicing – Jews,) and the Romans who feared that they MIGHT become a threat to them if they grew too large, so the bible as a Single-Volume of 73 of carefully chosen, GOD-Inspired, (2 Timothy 3: 16-17) books (46 OT and 27 NT) was not fully collected and assembled into a single book until late in the 4th. Century. BTW; The first term of Christ NEW Church and faith was “The Way”:
Acts 19: 23 “ [23] Now at that time there arose no small disturbance about “the way” of the Lord.”
Acts 24: 14 “ [14] But this I confess to thee, that according to “the way”, which they call a heresy, so do I serve the Father and my God, believing all things which are written in the law and the prophets”
Then towards the end of the 1st. Century that name evolved to “Christians:”
Acts 11: 26 “[26] And they conversed there in the church a whole year; and they taught a great multitude, so that at Antioch the disciples were first named Christians”
I don’t think that it is essential (although it is beneficial), that you know the exact verses to quote; knowing what books that they are in is usually sufficient.
The TERM “Catholic” was introduced around 110 AD, shortly after the bible had been fully authored. And the term means “Universal”, in following Christ direct COMMAND to His Apostles to “go out into the WHOLE WORLD” and teach ALL that I have COMMANDED YOU.” Mt. 28:20. “[18] And Jesus coming, Spoke to them, saying: All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. [19] Going therefore, teach ye 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.” (BTW, this was and is Direct, Clear and Exclusive to Them at that time.)You can just GOOGLE the term for verification. … And YOU can decide if you wish to share the exclusivity commanded here. So the Bible is a Catholic Book originally assembled and the NT fully authored by Catholics and at THAT time, exclusively for “Catholics” who were the original “Christians”, AND the ONLY Christians (except for some roaming heretics) until the “Great Eastern Schism” of 1054 AD. Just try to know the “Hi-Lights.”
FROM THE CATECHISM OF THE RCC:
845 To reunite all his children, scattered and led astray by sin, the Father willed to call the whole of humanity together into his Son’s Church. the Church is the place where humanity must rediscover its unity and salvation. the Church is “the world reconciled.” She is that bark which “in the full sail of the Lord’s cross, by the breath of the Holy Spirit, navigates safely in this world.” According to another image dear to the Church Fathers, she is prefigured by Noah’s ark, which alone saves from the flood.334
“If anyone thinks and believes that the way he or she is taking is the ONLY way to God that is the way God will take. (“Will use”) If one knows no other way, if one has no doubts and does not feel the need to keep searching, that is the way to salvation. That is the way God will take to reach that person.” Saint Mother Theresa of Calcutta
“Outside the Church there is no salvation”
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.
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.337
848 “Although in ways known to himself God can lead those who, through no fault of their own, are ignorant of the Gospel, to that faith without which it is impossible to please him, the Church still has the obligation and also the sacred right to evangelize all men.”
Question #2 “Are YOU saved?”
Reply: Yes and I am still in the process of “being saved.” Because Justification is a life- long process; never just a single act. … A GREAT Many Protestants hold to an OSAS (One Saved Always Saved philosophy); granted “by a profession of faith; a proclaimed Belief is Jesus as ‘Their LORD and Savior” (an “altar call”) of some sort, and through “Subsatory- Substitution” …ie. Jesus HAS ALREADY accomplished EVERYTHING needed for their salvation; which MOST assume “ “ that it “cannot then be lost.”) If this discussion gets deep enough ask THEM where THAT is in the bible. 1 John speaks very clearly about not sinning anymore.1 Jn. 5:18. 1 Jn.3:8 & 1 Jn. 1:6-7:
1 Jn. 5:18 “ [18] We know that whosoever is born of God, sinneth not: but the generation of God preserveth him, and the wicked one toucheth him not.”
1 Jn. 3:8 “ [8] He that committeth sin is of the devil: for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God appeared, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
AND THIS: 1 Jn. 1:6-7 [6] If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth. [7] But if we walk in the light, as he also is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” (They may hold that this Act of Jesus in an “ungoing forgiveness”; in other words they can sin at will and whatever they do is automatically forgiven.” So here is how to invalidate THAT argument. The Bible is a Holy Spirit Book (2 Timothy 3: 16-17) THIS IS a PASSAGE that you should commit to memory … “[16] All scripture, (is) inspired of God,(and) is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice, [17] That the man of God may be perfect, furnished to every good work.” Once again if Prudence dictates ask them to prove that from the use of the ENTIRE Bible.
Here is a Rule for “Right understanding of the Bible that you can (AND OUGHT TOO) share with them:
Never ever, Can, May, or Does; Any- one passage or verse have the POWER or the Authority to invalidate, override, or make void ANY –OTHER passage or verse. (God simply cannot contradict Himself.) … Where this even the slightest possibility (it’s NOT), it would render the entire Bible as worthless to teach or learn one’s faith.
St. Paul Himself recognizes that ones salvation is a life-long-task: Phil. 2:12
Phil..2:12 “[12] Wherefore, my dearly beloved, (as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but much more now in my absence,) with fear and trembling work out your salvation.” … And then ASK; ”WHY would Paul teach THIS is he understood salvation could be, or was “assured”?”
Here’s some more evidence:
1st. Cor. 9:27 “[27] But I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection: lest perhaps, when I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway.”
1st. Cor. 10:12 “[12] Wherefore he that thinketh himself to stand, (Be ALREADY Saved) let him take heed lest he fall.” … One might then ASK: are we to assume that Paul didn’t believe in Jesus? Hmmmmm
Clearly Paul understood that Salvation was a Lifetime effort and struggle.
Advice: …… “You think too much. PRAY, if God wants want you’re looking for, you’ll find a way to do it. Put EVERYTHING into His hands,” Saint Mother Theresa of Calcutta
Question #3 “IF YOU died tonight would you go the heaven?
Catholics have a conditional-assurance of salvation. (As does all of humanity.) NOTE: Very likely they will have little or no knowledge of what sins is; Venial and or Mortal, and their consequences). Be prepared to explain this information. Point out right away that these teaching are in the Bible because GOD intended them to be included, known and obeyed.
(The short) ANSWER: So long as we are in the “State of God’s GRACE”: Yes! “Our Salvation IS “assured.” … BUT what does THAT entail?
1 Jn. 1: 3-5 “ [3] That which we have seen and have heard, we declare unto you, that you also may have fellowship with us, and our fellowship may be with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. [4] And these things we write to you, that you may rejoice, and your joy may be full.[5] And this is the declaration which we have heard from him, and declare unto you: That God is light, and in him there is no darkness.” (This means if we are “in the state of God’s graces,”( previously supported by the earlier 1 John passages already shared.) But to enter into heaven one MUST BE without sin, literally perfect and holy.)
1 Peter 1: 15-16 “[16] Because it is written: You shall be holy, for I am holy. [17] And if you invoke as Father him who, without respect of persons, judgeth according to every one’s work: converse in fear during the time of your sojourning here”
Mt. 5:8
1st. Cor. 1:10 “[8] Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God.” (BUT keep in mind they may THINK that Jesus has already ASSURED THIS for them for LIFE.) .. SEE replies for #2
1 Jn. 5: 16-17 “[16] He that knoweth his brother to sin a sin which is not to death, let him ask, and life shall be given to him, who sinneth not to death. There is a sin unto death: for that I say not that any man ask. [17] All iniquity is sin. And there is a sin unto death.” (Mortal and Venial sins.) Explain because God has to be “Just and Fair” that He cannot judge stealing a candy bar from Walmart the same as in ANY manner supporting an abortion. The first can’t send one to Hell; the second one surely can. (Matthew 5”48)
So in order to be assured that if “we were to dies today would I go to heaven” DEPENDS upon me being in the “State of GOD’S grace; with NO unforgiven Mortal sins.”
HOW ARE CATHOLICS sins forgiven? (John 20:19-23)
Jn 20: 19-23 “[19] Now when it was late that same day, the first of the week, and the doors were shut, where the disciples were gathered together, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them: Peace be to you. [20] And when he had said this, he shewed them his hands and his side. The disciples therefore were glad, when they saw the Lord. [21] He said therefore to them again: Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent me, I also send you. [22] When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. [23] Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.” (We MUST be able to quote John 20: 22-23)… This is also taught in Mt. 16: 19 “[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.”
NOTE for your information: John 20:22 above: ’God Breathed on Him is a confirmation of man’s importance and GOD always being in our lives. Genesis 2: 6-7 “[6] But a spring rose out of the earth, watering all the surface of the earth.[7] And the Lord God formed man of the slime of the earth: and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul”; (So just as God gives us Mortal life; GOD offers through Sacramental Confession to grant us ETERNAL Life.)
“We all long for heaven where God is, but we have the possibility of being in heaven right now, of being happy with God at this very moment. Being happy with God means loving as He Loves, helping the way He helps, giving the way He gives, serving the way He serves, saving the way He saves. It means being with Him 24 hours a day by touching those that suffer.” (Are in need) Saint Mother Theresa of Calcutta
Question #4 “Why do you worship wafers/” (FYI: I have never been asked this, at least not in this manner.) …. “Why do Catholics believe Jesus is present in our holy communion?” I have been asked.
When asked this, the first I do is SMILE and go on the offence. I ask something along the line of: “are we to suppose that GOD cannot do this? That GOD cannot do any “good thing?” And THIS IS the greatest of all possible “good things because it is Jesus Himself, in Person; “Really, Truly and Substanually Present.”
For your FYI, I’ll provide the Bible references; BUT I usually explain, unless they want or insist upon the evidence; that God simply CANNOT LIE. In (Mt. 28: 20) He promises that He WILL be “with US” until the end of time. (They will likely know this, but think it means only “Spiritually.”)
I explain to them that five different CATHOLIC-authors of the NT, testify to this Reality. (Mt. 26, Mk. 14, Lk. 22, John 6, and Paul in 1st. Corinthians). If they choose to then still want further evidence I tell them to read with a Literal Understanding those Inspired Authors as they intended to TEACH us. (John 6:46-57 & verses 68-70) “[68] Then Jesus said to the twelve: Will you also go away? [69] And Simon Peter answered him: Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. [70] And we have believed and have known, that thou art the Christ, the Son of God.” If they still don’t believe ask them to READ Paul, 1st. Cor. 11:23-30 “ [23] For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. [24] And giving thanks, broke, and said: Take ye, and eat: this is my body, which shall be delivered for you: this do for the commemoration of me. [25] In like manner also the chalice, after he had supped, saying: This chalice is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of me. [26] For as often as you shall eat this bread, and drink the chalice, you shall shew the death of the Lord, until he come. [27] Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord. [28] But let a man prove himself: and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the chalice. [29] For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord. [30] Therefore are there many infirm and weak among you, and many sleep. (This terms HERE means have self -condemned themselves to eternal Hell.) LOOK at verse #27: and ask: Let me ask you a question; HOW can a person be GUILITY of the “body and blood of our LORD” If Paul is only speaking of ordinary bread and wine?… You many not convince them, but if they are being led by the Holy Spirit; they should have something to prayerfully ponder.
If they still are doubtful ASK to please GOOGLE “Eucharistic Miracles.”
A notable insight of the meeting of Mother Theresa and Pope John Paul II; both NOW proclaimed Saints: “Bless me Holy Father so I won’t ruin God’s work.” (Reply) Of course Mother, but you also pray for me so that I won’t ruin God’s Church.” Saint Mother Theresa of Calcutta (I have a photo of this meeting on my desk.)
Question #5 “Why Do Catholics “worship” Mary? (This is the one I have been most often asked.) With a HUGE smile I respond; “You almost asked the right question.” (What do you mean?”…. take out the word “worship” and insert in its place “venerate”, and you “nailed it.” We Catholics KNOW and are taught (Catechism #266 teaches) “ #266 “Now this is the Catholic faith: We worship one God in the Trinity and the Trinity in unity, without either confusing the persons or dividing the substance; for the person of the Father is one, the Son’s is another, the Holy Spirit’s another; but the Godhead of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is one, their glory equal, their majesty coeternal” (Athanasian Creed: DS 75; ND 16). … So if you change your question to “WHY do Catholics “ “venerate /reverence” Mary; it then an accurate, and a GOOD question.
Catholics venerate Mary because She alone was chosen by our Perfect GOD to be the Mother of “His Son.” GOD literally had BILLIONS of other options; other women that He might have selected; but NO, He choose Mary. … Everything (excepting Her freewill choices) were initiated BY GOD, not by Mary; NOT even by Mary’s request. So Her being born sinless; Her Virgin Birth of Jesus; Her Assumption into heaven; except Her sinless entire Life, which She HAD TO (and did) fully cooperate with God’s graces in order to accomplish; were parts of God’s plan for Her. The Biblical evidence of this is all in (Luke chapter One. Verses 26-35) (all the parts of the “Hail Mary” prayer) and (verses 46-55) show Her respect for what GOD had chosen to accomplish through Her:
“[46] And Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord. [47] And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. [48] Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid; for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.[49] Because he that is mighty, hath done great things to me; and holy is his name. [50] And his mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear him.”……. (Some think that we Catholics hold Mary on the same spiritual-plane as Her Son Jesus. Verse #47 clearly corrects that thinking.)
Having now explained Catholics actual beliefs and practices regards Mary; it is a good idea to go on and explain WHY we reverence Mary with Prayers. (THIS APPLIES SIMILARLY TO Saints as well.)
Once again we ask them “take out the “to” (though it is grammatically correct, and INSERT “THROUGH” … Catholics know that ALL prayers are intended to end with GOD. So using “through” is a more accurate reflection and understanding of what we believe and do.
We venerate, reverence and pray to & THROUGH Mary and the Saints to Jesus because we’re “family.” We Catholics believe in “the communion of Saints & saints.” Simply put this means that all the Souls in heaven + all the souls detoured to purgatory in route to heaven + and all of us Catholic-believers on earth are connected through Jesus, so WE’RE FAMILY. And families help each other in times of need. So Mary and the Saints being members of “our family” are anxious to assist us, and eagerly accept our request and; THEN they add their own petitions on top of ours, and then present them personally to God on our behalf. Consequently they are made more efficaous (effective.) Amen!
This one I REALLY identify with:
“I don’t think there is anyone who need God’s help and grace more than I do. I feel so forsaken and confused at times. And I think that is exactly why God uses me: because I cannot claim any credit for what gets done. On the contrary I need His help twenty-four hours per day. And if days were longer I would need even more of it.” Saint Mother Theresa of Calcutta
This week’s Good Reading (2)
How do I pray to God for a miracle?
Jesus gave us some very specific instructions.
When we read of the countless miracles performed in the Bible, it is natural for us to desire miracles to occur in our own lives. We might have this desire because of something tragic that is happening, or for less weighty desires.
For example, you or someone you know may have been diagnosed with cancer; you might have lost your job; maybe your marriage is in shambles; or your children could be in a difficult situation. Whatever the problem, we want God to fix it.
It could appear to us that the only possible solution is a miracle, and so we want to pray to God for that miracle.
How?
How do you pray for a miracle? Does God listen? Is there a certain formula that you need to pray for God to act?
First of all, as the angel Gabriel said to the Virgin Mary, “For with God nothing will be impossible” (Luke 1:37). As long as it is something true, good and beautiful, nothing is outside of God’s reach. Yet at the same time, God is not a “holy dispenser,” giving us everything we ask for.
He requires us to have a mustard-seed-size faith in him. When a sick man was brought before Jesus, they complained that his own disciples couldn’t cure him. Jesus explained why their prayers were unsuccessful.
He said to them, “Because of your little faith. Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20-21)
For any miracle to occur, we need to have a deep faith in God, which is itself a gift received and not something that can be “willed” by any individual. This gift requires our cooperation. Our hearts need to be fully open to receive this gift of faith and to be clear of any obstacles.
Furthermore, God desires that we first ask forgiveness for our own faults, before asking for something from him. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains how every prayer of petition (such as asking for a miracle) needs to include a prayer asking forgiveness.
The first movement of the prayer of petition is asking forgiveness, like the tax collector in the parable: “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” It is a prerequisite for righteous and pure prayer. A trusting humility brings us back into the light of communion between the Father and his Son Jesus Christ and with one another, so that “we receive from him whatever we ask.”Asking forgiveness is the prerequisite for both the Eucharistic liturgy and personal prayer. (CCC 2631)
Repentance was a key element in the miracles of healing Jesus performed in the Gospels, as he often forgave the sins of the person along with a physical restoration of health. Above all, God wants to restore our relationship with him and a miracle can only occur if it helps to bring that restoration about.
However, we must remember that God will grant our request for a miracle only if it is part of his divine will.
Above all things, we need to trust in God and his plan for us. We may not understand if he doesn’t respond to our request for a miracle, but his reasons will be revealed to us in time End Quotes
Catholics like to claim that THEY HAVE “the One True Church”
We/re Guilty as Sin! (Can anyone say “scandals”?)
Some food for thought by Patrick
I will not endeavor here to prove extensively, this claim (Though I do believe that it is provable. If anyone wishes to challenge that point?) please contact me: patrickmiron66@hotmail.com
Those who question today’s Catholic Church’s “authority” and exclusive Founder as being the “One True Church and Faith of Jesus” seem to have us dead to right’s.” We’re GUILT AS SIN” After all, could or would God; Jesus permit “His Church” to be so infested with perverts, heretics, and evil men? AND soooooo many of them?
Today’s some 2000 year old “Catholic” faith and Church has about 1.3 BILLION self -professed world wide “Catholics.” There is no reckoning of what percentage of that number are IFPC”s (Informed and fully practicing Catholics), but it is certainly less that THAT 1.3 Billion self-professed, in name –only “Catholics.” My goodness, one need only look at our National Politicians who CLAIM that they are “Catholics” but live like Satan’s minions. (Advocating and making legal Abortions, Gay “rights”; even same sex “marriage”.) NEWS FLASH!!!! “Catholicism is not merely a “term”; a moniker; NO, it’s a life-style. It’s actually knowing, believing and practicing what Jesus Teaches. And I suspect, perhaps to a lesser degree, this, or some other wrongful plague infest “all” Christian faiths and churches? Which in no- way diminishes the gravity of the scandals of today’s RCC.
However I’m not sure that is the “best question to be asking,” though it is a good and relevant one. After all, our “All Knowing GOD” choose JUDAS; as one of the 12, though He certainly desired that ALL 12 Apostles would be productive and great examples for each of us to follow. But JUDAS was a big “Yea But!?…. Why was that?
What all need to understand is that “Churches and churches” cannot sin; they are literally incapable of sinning. It is the people who “make up” that Church and those churches; very mortal and too often sinful folks who can and do sin. (1 John 1:6-8) That this is so evident within Christ Church is indicative of how He Created each of us “(and public media aided) in His very image (Gen. 1:26-27; Gen 2: 6-7). So two questions loom: (1) How was that (2) Why was that?
Both answers encroach on the very reason for our existence (Isaiah 43: 7 & 21), which obviously these notorious-sinners either don’t know, don’t “care about”, or fail to grasp the significance of? (May all three?)
The “How” can be summed up by pointing out that GOD is “Rational” and so are we. Which BTW is an exclusive ability of humanity in all of the Universe. This permits us to freely choose to love and or to hate; to do good and or evil. OUR freewill-CHOICES. God neither likes nor condones such; BUT He does permit it.
The “WHY” is a bit more complex and profound. About 4,000 years ago GOD proclaimed to Abram (later to be named Abraham) …Genesis 17: 1 “[1] And after he (Abram) began to be ninety and nine years old, the Lord appeared to him: and said unto him: I am the Almighty God: walk before me, and be perfect.”
Then in recorded history; the bible which was fully authored about 1,900 years ago; this same command was repeated for the benefit of our possible salvation. We know that the more often a message is taught in God’s Divinely Inspired Word (2 Timothy 3: 16-17) the greater is its importance to our personal salvation. The more prudence dictates that we pay attention to it.
Matthew 5: 48 “ [48] Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect.”
James 1: 4 -5 “ [4] And patience hath a perfect work; that you may be perfect and entire, failing in nothing. [5] But if any of you want wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men abundantly, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”
Ephesians 6: 13 “ [13] Therefore take unto you the armour of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and to stand in all things perfect.”
Romans 12:[2] And be not conformed to this world; but be reformed in the newness of your mind, that you may prove what is the good, and the acceptable, and the perfect will of God.”
Luke 1: 17 “[17] And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias; that he may turn the hearts of the fathers unto the children, and the incredulous to the wisdom of the just, to prepare unto the Lord a perfect people”
So now friends, without making excuses (which is all they would be) for the past; even the current actions of sinful “catholic” men; men chosen by God to be HIS teachers and the exclusive purveyors of His Truths (Mt. 10: 1-8; Mt. 16:15-19; John 17:17-20; Eph. 2:18-22; Eph. 4:1-7; Mt. 28: 18-20) and this is the short list as a FYI. We know that they will be judged by the fruit (In this case very ROTTEN fruits that Do SMELL to “high-heaven”) of their labors; as will each of us. (Mt. 7: 15-28; Rev. 2:23). So unless and or UNTIL (by God’s accepted graces) you are perfect; may I suggest it would be prudent to withhold your “judgment”; to be aware of the atrocities, these perversions of ALL that is good and pure; but permit GOD to pass His fair and just Judgments as He surely will. Pray for them; they SURE are in need of it. May the GOD of Mercy be ever in our midst! Amen!
Did you know that we ALL MUST be “perfect” before we can enter into heaven? That is why our GOD of Mercy and LOVE created Purgatory.
To Jesus THROUGH Mary,
Patrick
This Weeks NOTABLE News
Five Ways to Prepare for the Amazon Synod (This came in mid-week but was too good not to share)
You’ve read the Amazon synod’s neo-pagan, pantheistic Instrumentum Laboris, relishing Pope Francis’s “mantra” that “everything is connected” (n. 25). You’ve reread Laudato Si, letting yourself be pierced by “the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor” (n. 49). But you still want to delve deeper into the spirit of the Amazon synod.
You’ve come to the right place.
Who better to help prepare you for the synod than eco-theologian Leonardo Boff, who likes to boast that Pope Francis used his material for Laudato Si? (“Wait, that is Boff!” various people told him after reading the encyclical.) Boff—who left the priesthood to enter a marital relationship with a Marxist activist after being silenced by the CDF in the 1980s—is also the apparent “theologian of reference” for the Amazon synod’s Instrumentum Laboris, as Roberto de Mattei has shown. It is even suspected that Boff may have offered advice during the text’s drafting.
So here are five Boff-inspired ways to get ready for the Amazon synod, gleaned from the book that Laudato Si and the Instrumentum Laboris both love to quote: Boff’s Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor.
Think of yourself as Earth. Love yourself as Earth.
Want to be able to say, with the indigenous peoples quoted in the synod’s Instrumentum Laboris, “We are water, air, earth, and life of the environment”? Just stop thinking of the Earth as an object—and start loving yourself as Earth.
“Love leads us to identify ever more with the Earth,” explains Boff. “We must think ourselves as Earth, feel ourselves as Earth, love ourselves as Earth. Earth is the great living subject feeling, loving, thinking and through us knowing that it thinks, loves, and feels.”
“Then we can be mountain, sea, air, road, tree, animal,” promises Boff.
2.
Learn about the “new world order” and the new “universal religion.”
To ensure the salvation of the planet, Boff proposes a bold “new world order” in which Earth is “Gaia” and all beings in nature—mountains, plants, the atmosphere—are citizens of a “sociocosmic democracy.” He suggests a “central government” to “manage matters having to do with all of humankind”—and a “universal religion” to attend it.
“The new paradigm that is coming to birth—that of connectedness—will be the basis of a universal religion that will only be truly universal if it seeks convergences in religious diversity,” explains Boff. He says the universal religion’s convergent “supreme value” will be the preservation of planet Earth.
Have you noticed how many times Laudato Si and the Amazon synod’s Instrumentum Laboris denounce forms of “anthropocentrism,” call for a “new paradigm,” and say “everything is connected”? These themes come straight from Boff—and they’re instigators of that “spiritual revolution.”
So could the ecological principles in Laudato Si and the Amazon synod be paving the way for a “surrender sooner or later” on the prohibition against contraception?
“If we accept as a fact that human presence and activity is harmful to the environment and puts the very survival of the planet at risk…we must sooner or later accept emergency measures to stop human activity, such as contraception,” says one critic of Laudato Si and the Amazon synod.
Boff, for his part, is fiercely critical of the “arrogant” anthropocentrism embodied in Gen. 1:28: “Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.”
“These texts present a clear call to limitless demographic growth and unrestricted dominium terrae,” he warns.
3.
Acknowledge that our species is the “true Satan of the Earth.”
“Our species is a threat to all other species; it is terribly aggressive and is proving to be a geocide, an ecocide, and a true Satan of the Earth,” warns Boff.
The eco-theologian chillingly predicts that “as a result of excess chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) and other polluting ingredients, the Earth-superorganism may be about to devise new adaptations, which will not necessarily be easy on the human species.”
“Gaia may eliminate [our species], very painfully, in order to allow the overall balance to remain and so that other species might live and continue the cosmic thrust of evolution,” says Boff. He wonders whether, after millions of years, new complex beings—“new ‘humans’” with a true devotion to Gaia—may replace our “arrogant” species.
Clearly, “the great emergency” is even worse than you thought.
4.
Recognize “the secret truth of religious polytheism” and the “permanent value” in animism.
What will the new universal religion look like? According to Boff, we need to recover “the aspect of truth in paganism, with its rich pantheon of divinities inhabiting all the spaces in nature.”
“To cure humankind of its polytheism, early Christianity subjected the faithful to a violent and harsh medication. With the existence of the gods denied, many doors of the soul were closed,” Boff laments.
Boff says we also need to recognize the “permanent value” in animism.
“We moderns are also animists to the extent that we…feel part of a living whole in which we are enveloped,” he explains. “Everything sends us a message; everything speaks or can speak: trees, colors, wind, animals, roads, persons, and household things.”
“Shamanism arises out of this interpretation of reality,” the eco-theologian continues. Shamans use “gestures, dances, and rites” to put “energies at the disposal of human beings as they seek balance with nature and with themselves.”
“All must awaken within themselves this shamanistic dimension,” Boff says.
Fortunately for Boff, the Instrumentum Laboris valorizes pagan rituals (n. 87), “dialogue with the spirits” (n. 75), connection with “the various spiritual forces” (n. 13), and indigenous “beliefs and rites regarding the actions of spirits, of the many-named divinity acting with and in the territory” (n. 25). The native peoples idolized by the Instrumentum Laboris “have been liberated from monotheism and have restored animism and polytheism,” as de Mattei puts it.
“Not even witchcraft is sidelined” in the Instrumentum Laboris, others note.
5.
Embrace ecofeminism and fight patriarchy.
It goes without saying that the new paradigm will deploy ecofeminism against all patriarchal oppression. Boff says ecofeminism’s merit lies in its development of a “new pattern for relating to nature”—“against rationalism, authoritarianism, compartmentalization, and the will to power, which are historic expressions of androcentrism and patriarchalism.”
“[In scripture] even God is presented as Father and absolute Lord. Female, especially maternal, characteristics of pre-neolithic deities, which tend to be matriarchal, are delegitimized,” laments Boff, who promotes female pronouns for God and women’s ordination in The Maternal Face of God and Ecclesiogenesis.
Hence the Amazon synod’s praise for “faith in the God Father-Mother Creator” (n. 121) and its agenda to approve a female diaconate.
Hence Bishop Athanasius Schneider’s description of a coming “‘Amazonian-Catholic’ sect” which “practices the adoration of nature and which will have a female priesthood.”
“It will not be easy to control this wrecking ball,” says Cardinal Müller of the Amazon synod and the “linked” synodal path of the Germans.
“Afterwards, nothing is to be anymore as it was before, and it has been said that one will not even recognize the Church afterwards,” he warns.
So we must forcefully prepare for the synod in 5 other ways: Pray. Fast. Make reparation. Organize. Speak out.
Tagged as Amazon Synod, Amazonian Synod, Instrumentum Laboris, Laudato Si’,Leonardo Boff
By Julia Meloni
Julia Meloni writes from the Pacific Northwest. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Yale and a master’s degree in English from Harvard.
| Trump administration releases new ‘public charge’ rule making it easier to reject immigrants |
| The Trump administration released the final version of a controversial rule on Monday that dramatically increases the government’s ability to reject green cards for people who are deemed likely to depend on government aid such as food stamps, housing assistance and Medicaid |
http://click1.email.thehill.com/ViewMessage.do;jsessionid=4FF92A1874F0C4E7CCC93C225D154E84
Trump delivers on promise as Treasury brands China a ‘currency manipulator’
It’s been a while since we looked at the president’s promises. But there’s no time like the present! Here’s the latest Trump-O-Meter update:
President Donald Trump’s promise to “Instruct the Treasury Secretary to label China a currency manipulator.”
| MONDAY, AUGUST 12 |
| EPSTEIN DEAD Jeffrey Epstein, accused of operating a sex trafficking ring, was found dead while in federal lockup. Authorities claimed it was a suicide, but several members of Congress are calling for an investigation on how the politically-connected financier ended up dead while on suicide watch. READ |
| DOJ ORDERS INVESTIGATION Attorney General William Barr said: “Mr. Epstein’s death raises serious questions that must be answered…. In addition to the FBI’s investigation, I have consulted with the Inspector General who is opening an investigation into the circumstances of Mr. Epstein’s death.” READ |
MOVIE SCRAPPED Universal Pictures has scuttled The Hunt – a movie in which coastal elites kidnap and hunt down “deplorables” from the heartland. President Trump had tweeted against the film on Friday: “Liberal Hollywood is Racist at the highest level, and with great Anger and Hate!” READ |
| POLL ON CATHOLICS According to a SurveyUSA poll, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders are polling well with some otherwise conservative-leaning Catholics because of the treatment of migrants. Both Biden and Sanders narrowly lead President Trump among Catholics in the poll, while other Democratic candidates slightly trailed Trump among Catholics. READ |
| TAKING A KNEE A U.S. gold medalist knelt during the National Anthem during the 2019 Pan American Games. READ |
| CATHOLIC & SKILLED TRADES A new vocational school is opening in Grand Rapids, and it combines learning a skilled trade with formation in a Catholic curriculum. READ |
| REAL PRESENCE Barely a quarter of Catholics believe in the Real Presence, according to a new poll. Amy Welborn says this shouldn’t shock us. “Most Catholics don’t go to Mass, have received very little religious education in their life, and attend liturgies that de-emphasize the unique presence of Christ in the Eucharist. And we’re surprised that most Catholics don’t believe in transubstantiation?” READ |
| SAINT OF THE DAY St. Jane Frances de Chantal was a married woman and a mother of seven children from Dijon, France. Her husband was killed in a hunting accident. In 1604, upon being deeply moved by the preaching of Francis de Sales, Jane asked him to become her spiritual director. She founded the Visitation nuns in 1610. Jane worked tirelessly helping the sick, and she convinced local political rulers to make special provisions for the sick and the bereaved. During the last years of her life, she experienced periods of spiritual aridity. She established eighty-five monasteries before her death in 1641. READ |
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| Report says eight states to use paperless voting in 2020 despite security concerns |
| At least eight states are on course to not use any form of paper ballots or machines with paper records during the 2020 elections, a report published Tuesday by New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice found.
The report said that around 12 percent of Americans, or about 16 million people, will vote on paperless machines in 2020 and will have no paper record of how they voted…………… |
https://outlook.live.com/mail/deeplink?version=2019080502.13&popoutv2=1
https://outlook.live.com/mail/deeplink?version=2019080502.13&popoutv2=1 (For the following)
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| Dad horrified as public school convinces daughter she’s a ‘boy’…and he can’t stop it
By Jonathon Van Maren |
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Lone boy holds crucifix high to protest LGBT march, police carry him away
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Florida appeals court rules in favor of 24-hour waiting period for abortion
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Latin Mass, Church traditions bring boom in vocations for US order of nuns
By Drew Belsky
FAIRFIELD, Pennsylvania, August 13, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – In an age where religious professions are in decline, especially in the United States, one order is looking back in time to buck the trend. The Discalced Carmelites have turned from the modern Church’s reforms of the 1960s and embraced ancient traditions – particularly the traditional Latin Mass. Now their order is booming, with multiple at-capacity monasteries dotting the eastern U.S
Pope Francis appointments paint disturbing picture of Church governance
Blase Cupich, Catholic, Homosexuality, John Paul Ii Institute, Kevin Farrell, National Shrine Of The Basilica Of The Immaculate Conception, Pope Francis, Vincenzo Paglia, Washington, D.C., Wilton D. Gregory
August 13, 2019 (Turning Point Project) — One would assume a radical pope like Francis would at least keep a few token conservatives in his entourage. On the contrary: many of his appointees are well to the Left of his own public image. Much can be gleaned about the Holy Father’s mind by studying the men he entrusts with power and authority.
Take the appointment of Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia to head the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Marriage and the Family. The regime-change took place two years ago; now, as expected, Paglia is conducting a Stalin-style purge of the Academy. All the members of the Institute who subscribe to John Paul’s view of marriage and morality are being handed pink slips — a color which suggests the new direction that Paglia has in mind for the Institute.
Of course, this is the man now famous for having commissioned an enormous homoerotic fresco to “grace” an interior wall of his cathedral. In the picture, a semi-nude (his lower half is mercifully shielded by a sheet) Archbishop Paglia is seen clutching a nude man who returns his embrace ……. End QUOTED
Marriage’s hardest but most beautiful truth: You belong to your spouse
Blessed Virgin Mary, Catholic, Christianity, Marriage, Wedding
August 13, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) — By the rubrics of the Solemnization of Matrimony in the Book of Common Prayer, the man is instructed to say to the woman as he places the ring upon her finger: “With this ring I thee wed, with my body I thee worship [i.e., reverence], and with all my worldly goods I thee endow: In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.”
The spouses give of themselves because they belong to each other. Their mutual homage and lifelong union is a ratification of the covenant written that day upon their hearts by the fiery finger of the Holy Spirit, written with the word of the entire person and the absolute weight of past, present, and future as a testimony to the immortality of the human soul and the divine origin of its love. If vows like this are not possible, human beings are not rational animals or children of God.
The nuptial vow is an imitation of the Virgin Mary’s faith: “Be it done to me according to thy word” (Lk. 1:38). This one timeless utterance — said by Eve to Adam, Sarah to Abraham, Rebecca to Isaac, Rachel to Jacob, Mary to Joseph, Christ to His Father, the Church to Christ — is the solemn attestation of undying love, the triumph of love over death. “I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine” (Song 6:3).
This is why, for the Christian, divorce is not merely cruel and wrong, but impossible and inconceivable. To make oneself, one’s life and destiny, into a yes, and then to say no, is to erase the genuine freedom of the will and annihilate one’s own identity as a bearer of promises. Freedom can survive only in a climate of love, and love in a climate of exceptionless commitment, not a storm of chance or a desert of uncertainty. In marriage vows seriously intended, the man becomes the woman’s, and the woman becomes the man’s — in St. Paul’s words, “you are not your own” (1 Cor. 6:19). Like father and child, husband and wife are correlative. If the father had never existed, the child, too, would vanish. Divorce of what is intrinsically united is no more possible than separating rationality from humanity. In this sense, the rejection of plighted love (divorce) is like the rejection of plighted religion (apostasy), which is itself an image of the rejection of reason (nihilism). ……
Prof Janet Smith on the sexual abuse crisis: ‘The Bishops are the problem’…and ‘disappointment’ with Francis
By John-Henry Westen
The oldest catechism in Christian history dates from the 1st century
And it’s an anonymous treatise the Church Fathers held in the highest esteem.
According to most scholars, The Didaché (a brief, anonymous Christian treatise, considered to be the oldest Christian catechism in history) was written between the years 65 and 80. Also known as “the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles,” or simply “The Teaching” (Didachémeans “teaching” in Greek), the Didaché is a letter belonging to the very first Christian corpus of literary production. It is considered the first and oldest written catechism, and as such has been respected and preserved to this day.
Both the author and the place where the Didaché was written remain unknown. The original text of the Didaché survived in a single manuscript, known as the Codex Hierosolymitanus. Some scholars argue the text was put together by an editor (instead of an author) who might have also written down some teachings directly from apostolic preaching, either in Syria or Egypt. After the text was lost for years, the Metropolitan of Istanbul, Philoteos Bryennios, found a Greek copy in 1873 and published it in 1883. The copy the Metropolitan found dated to 1056.
This brief treatise provides us with extra-biblical data regarding the institutions and life of the earliest Christian communities. The Didaché codifies the moral, liturgical, and legal dispositions of the early Church that were considered convenient and necessary then. It almost exclusively consists of “practical” teachings, leaving aside any discussion concerning the dogmatic contents of faith, except for a single chapter.
There are hardly any quotations from the Old Testament in the Didaché; instead, the author speaks of the “Gospel of the Lord” (without specifying which of the Synoptics he or she might be referring to), and quotes and alludes to around 20 sayings or statements of Jesus Christ. The author seems to ignore the Gospel of John, and none of St. Paul’s epistles is formally cited. ……..
BREAKING: Cardinal Pell appeals verdict to be livestreamed August 21
By Bree A. Dail
Bishop Barron laments lack of belief in Eucharist, but what’s he doing about it?
JOSEPH SHAW
……. (Begin Quotes) Just how serious is a situation in which half of nominal Catholics do not even know that the Church teaches transubstantiation? Bishop Barron tells us he regards it as pretty serious. He is right. Those who do not know the doctrine are not best placed to benefit from the sacrament, to put it mildly, and there is no reason to suppose that their ignorance and denial of the Faith end there. I wonder how many know that baptism washes away Original Sin, that confession takes away sins committed since Baptism, or that marriage unites a couple in an indissoluble bond. How many self-described Catholics understand, let alone believe, the Apostle’s Creed?
This is a pastoral emergency, and there are some cheap, simple, and obvious things that any bishop (any ordinary, that is: Bishop Barron is an auxiliary bishop) faced with such an emergency should do.
He should ask all the catechists and priests of the diocese whether they personally affirm, and teach to others, the most important truths of the Faith. Lay catechists who do not should be sacked; clergy who do not should be forbidden to preach.
He should then lead a systematic program of diocese-wide catechesis on these truths through pastoral letters, his own preaching, diocesan newspapers, and social media channels.
Looking to the longer term, he needs to ensure that seminaries and whatever systems there may be for adult formation and the training of catechists are fully orthodox.
No bishop in the developed world will do these things, however. The more zealously orthodox will tinker around the edges by encouraging orthodox seminarians and appointing some good catechists. Even they would reject my simple three-step plan.
Why? Well, if half of all nominal Catholics are ignorant of the teaching or reject it, it would be surprising if between a quarter and a third of the clergy, even in a good diocese, did not reject it as well, and probably a far higher percentage of catechists. If a bishop began to signal that non-believers were not welcome in positions of trust and authority in the diocese, these individuals would complain, to Rome, to the media, and to the people. The bishop could expect no strong support from Rome, from fellow bishops, or from ordinary Catholics, let alone from the secular media.
Even if the bishop were able to weather the resulting storm, and the unbelievers began to leave their positions, the disappearance of such a large number of people from key roles in the diocese would create a manpower crisis.
The Church in the West has become dependent on people who do not hold the Catholic Faith: as administrators, clergy, volunteers, and benefactors. They are embedded in positions of influence and can count on backup from powerful friends throughout the diocese and beyond. A conservative bishop may in office, but that does not mean he is in power.
Such bishops are no doubt thinking that only when they have brought the situation under control by behind-the-scenes tinkering can they afford to confront it more openly. The Pew study gives them this unwelcome news, however: this policy is not working. The good people they are trying to promote through the system are too few and too isolated; the time the bishop has to make a positive difference is too short; the counter-evangelization of non-believers, by their very presence in positions of trust, as well as by what they say and do, is too powerful.
If bishops do not take real action now, knowing the price they may have to pay, (HELL) the situation will continue to deteriorate.
Satanic Temple in Ottawa plans to hold first black mass in Canada August 17
By Lianne Laurence
Lone boy holds crucifix high to protest LGBT march, police carry him away
Catholics tell US bishops how to restore belief in the Real Presence in the Eucharist (SEE Below)
Stepen Kokx
Catholics tell US bishops how to restore belief in the Real Presence in the Eucharist
August 14, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) — Last Friday, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops asked lay Catholics on Facebook for advice following the release of a troubling Pew Research survey that found only 3 in 10 Catholics actually believe the bread and wine become the body and blood of Jesus Christ during Mass.
The laity overwhelmingly responded by calling on the USCCB to reinstitute traditional liturgical practices.
More than 1,100 comments and hundreds more “likes” revealed Catholics want bishops to combat unbelief in the Real Presence by, among other things, giving communion on the tongue, saying Mass ad orientem, moving tabernacles to the center of the church, restoring Latin chant, and scaling back the role of extraordinary Eucharistic ministers.
Fr. Richard Heilman of Wisconsin wrote that “banal, casual, modernized and secularized liturgy that no longer lifts the soul to God” is to blame for lack of belief in transubstantiation. Fr. Heilman runs theRoman Catholic Man blog.
One commentator, Tim Kline, who is not Catholic but said he is “sympathetic” to it, admonished the bishops for allowing priests who “scandalize the church” to administer communion. He also criticized them for letting “pro-choice politicians” and unrepentant sinners receive it. Not stopping these occurrences, Kline said, is to tell the world that the Eucharist is meaningless. “Start treating it like you believe it is the Real Presence,” he said.
Kline’s comment was given nearly 100 “thumbs up” and prompted multiple responses. It went viral with help from several prominent Catholic writers.
The blog Unam Sanctam Catholicam took a screenshot of Kline’s statement and posted it on Facebook under the headline “A Protestant corrects the USCCB on the Real Presence.” Michael Hichborn of the Lepanto Institute also shared Kline’s comments, writing “When a Protestant displays more reverence for the Holy Eucharist than US Bishops do, you catch a glimpse of just how bad things have gotten.” Steve Skojec from OnePeterFive.com also promoted Kline’s remarks on his Facebook page.
Some who responded to the bishops’ plea for help were unsure if the tradition-minded suggestions would actually be implemented.
The Pew Research survey found that among weekly Mass-attending Catholics only 63 percent of them believe in transubstantiation, meaning 37 percent of weekly Church goers don’t believe in the real presence. Among the 37 percent who don’t believe in transubstantiation, 23 percent don’t know what the Church teaches on it and 14 percent do know but reject it.
Contact the USCCB by calling (202) 541-3000. End Quoted
Cardinal Pell warns against ‘low-quality’ Amazon Synod working document in prison letter
By Dorothy Cummings McLean
| ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ author JD Vance converts to Catholic faith because it’s ‘true’ |
Ottawa archbishop condemns Satanic black mass as ‘vile’ and ‘hateful’
By Lianne Laurence
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM A proposed Labor Department rule would broaden religious protections in federal contracting. Under the rule, religious organizations that contract with the federal government would receive the “broadest protection permitted by law.” Acting Labor Secretary Patrick Pizzella said: “As people of faith with deeply held religious beliefs are making decisions on whether to participate in federal contracting, they deserve clear understanding of their obligations and protections under the law.” The ACLU announced its opposition to the rule. READ
JUDGES President Trump announced six more judicial nominations. Among them was Steven Menashi, a White House lawyer and former clerk to Justice Sam Alito, to serve on New York-based seat on the 2nd Circuit Court. If all judicial nominees are confirmed by the Senate, President Trump will have appointed 50 circuit judges to lifetime appointments – shattering all previous records for the first two years of a presidential term. READ
CHURCH SCANDAL The Diocese of Scranton launches an investigation into Msgr. Walter Rossi, rector of the National Shrine of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC. READ
PROTEST AT PARISH Some Catholics at a parish in Portland, Oregon, have attempted to disrupt Mass and shout down Fr. George Kuforiji, a Nigerian priest who has tried to implement more reverence to the Mass. Prior to his arrival, the parish was known for their “progressive liturgy” and avoided masculine pronouns when referring to God. READ
| Whistleblower: Google lied to Congress under oath, is tampering with elections to ‘overthrow’ US
By Calvin Freiburger |
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| Trump rips Democrats for allowing doctors to ‘execute the baby’
By Calvin Freiburger |
‘Dr. Death,’ inventor of ‘suicide pod,’ unveils suicide livestream service
By Society for the Protection of Unborn Children
Tackle the Amazon Synod with LifeSite and other leading orthodox Catholic voices
By Dorothy Cummings McLean
More states pledge to include ‘LGBT history’ in school curriculums
By Doug Mainwaring
August 16, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – Beginning in 2020, more states will now include lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) history in their public school curriculums.
Illinois just joined California, New Jersey, and Colorado in mandating the teaching of LGBT History, while the Department of Education in Maryland has just signed on to include gays, lesbians and transgenders who are viewed as historically underrepresented in lesson plans.
Masonic Catholic priest claims Australian bishops approved Catholics joining Freemasons
By Kathy Clubb
Faithful Shepherds Bishop of the Week: Cardinal Blase Cupich (PF’s right hand man in the U.S. from Chicago)
By LifeSiteNews staff “Bishop accountability website FaithfulShepherds.com profiles liberal Cardinal Cupich”
Cardinal Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago since 2014, has been one of the most high-profile American bishops in recent years. From his close relationship with Pope Francis to his recent remarks in favor of allowing Communion for pro-abortion politicians, Cupich has never failed to garner headlines. Perhaps what Cardinal Cupich is most known for is his widespread deviation from Church teaching on a variety of issues……
One Might ASK; what if any benefit is there to “airing our “DIRTY Laundry” (scandals) in public.) NOTE that it pains ME to do so. I have prayed about it, and discerned my “assigned” task is to “REPORT the News; not Make it. I find comfort in the fact that while the extent of Catholic very human failings is discouraging; the Church as Christ promised (Mt. 16:18) will not permit Satan to prevail. Also as a pragmatic, I am aware that while these perverts get the headlines they are in the super-minority. There are countless selfless good, holy priest and prelates who skip the headlines and just do what God desired them and called them to do. Far more disturbing to me is this Pope and the minions he has surrounded himself with. Still I KNOW that Jesus is on our side and that He Will prevail at a time and place of His Choosing. And I am at peace with that assurance. (Mt. 22: 14) “[14] For many are called, but few are chosen.” … I KNOW That I am one of the chosen; do you have that same confidence? I pray daily that you do.
So until next week, God Willing,
With prayers for Blessings on you and yours, (I’d love to hear some feedback from you.)
To Jesus THROUGH Mary,
Patrick
On God's Payroll 
The SDA , Assembly of God, Pentecostal, Word of faith, Baptist, Church of Christ, and other denominations are Catholic. They are just not Roman Catholic or orthodoxy Catholic or Eastern orthodoxy. .
Praying to Mary or dead saint are not in the orthodoxy they need to have a spiritual relationship.
Interesting reply, let’s discuss it.
God Bless
Patrick
patrickmiron66@hotmail.com