Our Journey Home

My first contact with a priest was just two years ago. While working on my Doctorate at Oral Roberts University I met Father Amalor Vima from India. As class mates we spent a good deal of time together and became close friends. It was in this environment that something happened that would revolutionized my life forever. During a reflective moment in one of our sessions, Selmar Quayo, a Methodist Bishop from Brazil, stood to his feet and said: "In my country, as a Protestant, I am in the minority. Unfortunately, there is much animosity between our church and the Catholic Church. Many of my people are filled with bitterness toward all Catholics. Yet here, Father Vima is in the minority and I’ve seen nothing from his life but the love of Jesus Christ." With tears running down his face he said, "Father Vima, I want you to forgive me."

I watched as these two men of God embraced. There was not a dry eye in the room. In that one brief moment my mind began to envision a new possibility—Protestants and Catholics all over the world coming together, embracing in love, and dropping to their knees in prayer.

In this simple act Selmar Quayo had challenged all of us to become ministers of reconciliation. My thoughts raced. "Imagine what the Holy Spirit could do if Catholics and Protestants really were one."The words of Jesus flashed through my mind, "If you are offering your gift at the altar and remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift" (Matt 5:23-24). As I watched the scene unfold I could almost hear Jesus praying, "May all of them be one, Father . . . that the world may believe that you have sent me" (John 17:21). I knew at that moment I must become a minister of reconciliation.

Years earlier Joetta and I had ministered at a Southern Baptist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. After the service, a woman came up to Joetta and asked her if she would pray for her daughter, Regan. She did not, however, want to divulge the specific prayer need. Joetta assured her that it wasn’t necessary to know the need because the Holy Spirit would intercede for Regan. For the next year, Joetta prayed faithfully for a young lady she had never met.

At that time Joetta was working as a Technical Writer for Thrifty Rent-A-Car. One day, her boss informed her that they had hired a new Software Trainer and were going to put her in the cubicle across from Joetta’s. They asked Joetta to make her feel welcome and to show her around. When the new trainer arrived, she introduced herself as Regan. To Joetta’s surprise, here stood the young lady she had been praying for all those months! God was definitely up to something. Joetta and Regan worked as associates over the next seven years. Although they never socialized outside of the work place, they began to develop a close relationship.

One day in 1995, Regan shared that she and her husband were having problems in their marriage. Kelvin was a Roman Catholic, and she was a Southern Baptist. For several years, Regan attended the Catholic Church off and on with Kelvin and although he did not fell comfortable in the Baptist Church he would attend with Regan on special occasions. This arrangement worked, until they had children and realized how strongly they both felt about how their children should be raised. To Regan’s chagrin Kelvin was adamant about baptizing and raising their children in the Catholic Church. They were at an impasse when Regan came to Joetta for advice.

Joetta told Regan that a house divided cannot stand, and that it was essential that they be in church together. Joetta suggested that, if her husband would not go to church with her, she should go to church with him. God would bless their marriage if Regan would submit to the spiritual authority of her husband. Joetta informed Regan of some classes held by the Catholic Church which she could attend, without obligation, to learn about the Catholic faith. Joetta said, "If I were you, I would want to know what my children were going to be taught, so that I could counter any incorrect teaching." For Regan’s peace of mind, Joetta said, "You go through the program, bring all of the material to me, and I’ll give it to Larry so that he can check it out and see if it is Scripturally sound."

I never paid any attention to the material Regan gave Joetta, except for two things. One was a newspaper article by a Lutheran journalist discussing Marian apparitions. The author of the article had spoken at Regan’s church and told how the Mother of God had been appearing to six young children daily since 1981. Regan was so intrigued she read everything she could get her hands on. The second thing she gave us was a cassette by a woman who had been miraculously healed at the same apparition site. This woman, a nominal Christian at best, was so impacted by the experience that she committed her life to serving Christ. I took these items and started to throw them away. On a whim I stuck them in a drawer instead.

The week prior to May 25, 1996, Regan told Joetta that she was going to a Marian conference in Wichita, Kansas. She was really excited about it because both the author of the article and the woman who had been healed were featured speakers. Regan, however, was bothered by a prayer she had received in the pre-conference material that supposedly would be prayed at the conference. "I would like," she told Joetta, "for you and Larry to look it over and see what you think." As Joetta read the prayer, all kinds of red flags went up. In almost a state of panic she brought the prayer to me. It was the Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. As I began to read the prayer the hair on the back of my neck stood straight up. "Immaculate Heart of Mary, I give to you my body and soul . . . ." I stopped in mid sentence. Rage filled my heart. "This prayer is demonic!" I said, "You don’t give your soul to anyone but Jesus. Tell Regan she can go to the Conference but whatever she does don’t pray that prayer." Within three days, something deep within my spirit told me I had made a terrible mistake. Remorse for what I had said flooded my soul.

I decided to take a copy of the prayer to Fr. Vima, "I don’t understand this prayer," I said. "How in the world can you give yourself to Mary in this way?" With a twinkle in his eye Fr. Vima gently said, "Larry, have you ever held Joetta in your arms and said, ‘I love you, I adore you, I worship the ground you walk on’?" "Yes," I cautiously replied. "Have you looked lovingly into her eyes and assured her of your complete love and devotion? Have you spoken words like, ‘I am completely yours now and forever’? ‘All that I am and all that I ever hope to be is yours.’?" I was beginning to get his point. "If the truth were known," I admitted, "I’ve used those exact words."

"Catholics," he continued, "would never say of Mary, ‘We adore you.’ We venerate her. We honor her. But, we would never say ‘we adore you’ because adoration is reserved only for God. It is something we give only to Jesus. We adore Him. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and there is no one like Him. We believe that Mary, as the Mother of God, loves and cares for us. What we’re saying in this prayer is, ‘All of me, I place in your hands and I ask you to take me to your son, Jesus.’ Mary always points to Jesus."

As I listened to Fr. Vima I began to realize how wrong I had been. Two emotions flooded over me simultaneously—shame and joy. Shame for my quick assessment, and joy at the possibilities that were opening up.

I went home and found the Marian newspaper I had put in one of my dresser drawers and begin to read. As I read what Mary was reported as saying I was struck by how biblically based her messages were—pray, repent, fast, commit your life to Christ. This was obviously not the work of Satan. I wondered out loud, "Could this really be the Mother of God." If it were, than what she said was important and worthy of our consideration. One of her more frequent statements was somewhat puzzling: "Pray the Rosary every day." Joetta and I knew nothing about the Rosary. Perhaps it was time to discover what this prayer was all about.

As Regan was leaving for the Marian conference, Joetta gave her some money to buy a Rosary. Their relationship had become strained, and sometimes emotionally charged because of Mary, and Joetta felt that if she let Regan show her how to ray the Rosary, it would at least keep them dialoguing. When Regan gave Joetta her Rosary, she said, "What’s great is that the man who made this Rosary lives just outside Tulsa, in Claremore, Oklahoma. If there’s ever a problem with the Rosary, it is guaranteed."

The more closely that Joetta looked at her Rosary, the less she liked the centerpiece. "It looks like an idol. I think I’ll call Two Hearts Rosaries and see if they’ll exchange it for something else."

"Come on out," the voice on the other end of the line said, "Bob’s work is guaranteed, and he will be happy to replace it with something you like." When we arrived, Bob’s wife Johanna asked Joetta what was wrong with the Rosary. "It’s the centerpiece," Joetta said, "I don’t like the centerpiece." Johanna looked at her quizzically, "What about it don’t you like?" "Wellit looks too, you know, Catholic!"

"The Rosary," Johanna smiled, "is Catholic!" While Joetta looked at centerpieces, Bob was sharing with me what had happened to them on a pilgrimage to an apparition site in Europe. I yelled at Joetta, "Come in here and listen to this. You won’t believe this story!" These were the first real Catholics that we had ever spent any time with, other than Sister Monica Marie and Fr. Vima.

Bob shared with us how God through Mary had transformed their lives. As he told their story, tears rolled down his face. He said he hasn’t stopped crying since he got back from their pilgrimage. In his words, his heart "just turned to mush." When they got back, Bob went in and quit his job at Amoco. He was a laboratory technician and had been with the company for over 21 years. Not too long after that, Johanna quit her job at Tulsa University. God was calling them to complete obedience and dependence upon him.

During this time, Bob met a nun who showed him how to make Rosaries. Bob decided to make two Rosaries: one to thank Mary for leading him to Jesus, and one to thank Jesus for saving his soul. The rest is history. All of Bob’s rosaries are lovingly hand-made. He sees each bead as a prayer sent out by Mary to convert and bring souls to Jesus. Joetta’s and my conversion are the direct result of those prayers.

After our meeting with Bob and Johanna, I was emotionally shaken. As we drove away neither of us said a word. It was as if we had experienced an epiphany. I can’t explain it. I felt like I had been in the presence of Jesus. Not wanting to go right home I pulled into a Taco Bueno to get something to drink. As we sat there looking at each other tears began to stream down our faces. What was happening to us? What was God asking of us?

Our lives were literally being pushed toward the Catholic Church. Regan had introduced us to the owners of the local Catholic bookstore, so we decided to go there for more information. Lee and Anita lovingly welcomed us and pointed us to exactly what we needed. When we figured our income tax at the end of that year, we discovered that we had spent over $5,000 on books, cassettes, videos, and other materials in search of spiritual truths! We couldn’t get enough. We were in Lee’s store three and four times a day. "We’re here for our Catholic fix." Lee and Anita would just laugh and point us to another book, cassette, or video. It was like an addiction that we couldn’t get satisfied. One question just led to another and another. It was a wonderful experience.

We began going to bed later and waking up earlier trying to jam as much reading into the day as possible. We decided to maximize our time. I began taking Joetta to work and picking her up so that we could read out loud coming and going. I would pick her up for lunch, put a couple of lawn chairs and TV trays in the trunk and drive to a park so that we could read without interruptions. We took turns—one would eat while the other would read out loud. We did everything together. God was graciously speaking to us together. Drawing us at the same pace deeper into himself.

We read the Catechism from cover to cover. The Catechism is the greatest systematic theological work we have ever read. Answers to long sought after questions were coming like torrential showers.

I remember one Saturday morning in particular. We both woke up about 4 o’clock in the morning. We sat up in bed with our Bibles in one hand and Catechisms in the other. I would say, "Joetta, listen to this. This is fantastic. This just brings everything into focus!" Before I would finish, Joetta would interrupt and say, "Larry, wait, wait. Listen to this!" She would then read from a different section of the Catechism. We would read supporting scripture verses, go to the writings of the Early Church Fathers and then check a commentary. Before we knew it, it was 1 o’clock in the afternoon! We were like sponges. Issues such as the real presence of Christ in the bread and wine, the role of Mary in the Church, prayers to the saints, Scripture and Tradition as authoritative vs. Sola Scriptura, Papal authority, Purgatory, and Salvation as a process vs. Salvation as a completed work we began to see in a whole new light. It was like finding all the lost pieces in a huge theological puzzle. The full picture was becoming clear.

The Lord was taking us down two paths simultaneously: one intellectual and the other emotional. We had been praying the Rosary, and parking ourselves on Bob and Johanna’s sofa, asking question after question about Catholic doctrine, tradition, and culture. We asked God to somehow reveal to us if He was drawing us to the Catholic Church, because none of this made any sense to us. We had spent all of our lives in Protestant churches and were quite content in our ministry. We desperately needed to know about the Church to which God was calling us, so three short weeks into our conversion I prayed this prayer. "Father, if you are drawing us into the Catholic Church, I want a sign, and I want it big."

Several days later, we were coming home from a short trip to Dallas. As we largest, most vivid sun either of us had ever seen. It went from horizon to horizon, and it looked like we were going to drive right into it. An indescribable array of colors—orange, red, and pink. It was magnificent, so much so that our young grandson, who was sleeping in the back set sat up and said, "Grandpa, grandpa, do you see that? Isn’t it beautiful?" As brilliant as it was we could look right at it.

As the sun went down we put in a cassette tape by Dr. Scott Hahn and continued toward Oklahoma City. As I looked into the night sky I prayed again silently, "Oh God, if you’re drawing us into the Catholic Church, give us a sign and please make it big!"

At the same time, unknown to me, Joetta was staring out the passenger window silently praying, "Blessed Mother, if you’re real, we have to know beyond a doubt." Suddenly, I heard Joetta gasp and say, "Oh my, Larry, Larry, look!" As I looked to the right I saw what looked like a chain of stars falling in slow motion at a downward angle from right to left. Just before the stars reached the horizon they shot straight up and then fell back toward the earth again falling right in the center of the highway. Usually a falling star shoots downward and moves so quickly you don’t have time to tell anyone about it. We were speechless, because we both saw it! Finally Joetta broke the silence, "You did see that didn’t you?" We were both visibly shaken.

I put in a cassette by Catholic singer Dana in which she sings through the Rosary, and for the next hour and thirty minutes we prayed the Rosary with her. We finished just as we reached the exit road going toward our parsonage. As we turned under the freeway and went up over a little hill, there, sitting on the road in front of us was the most beautiful, enormous, vivid quarter-moon we had ever seen. Like the sunset, it seemed to literally sit in the middle of the road and extended as high into the sky as we could the sun. For 2 1/2 miles, we watched in total silence.

As we turned into our driveway the moon disappeared. "Joetta, what does all of this remind you of?" "Revelation chapter 12," she said: "‘A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.’" At that moment we knew that the Holy Spirit was not only bringing us to the Catholic Church, but that Mary was leading the way.

Two months later Joetta and I knelt in a small chapel on the University of Tulsa campus and prayed the prayer of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Our love for her is without bounds. I had been afraid that she would somehow take away from my love for Jesus, but what I found was that my love for Christ has deepened beyond measure. Truly our cup runs over!

On September 12, 1997, I surrendered my ordination papers to Bishop Bruce Blake of the United Methodist Church. In doing so, I laid down 30 years of Protestant ministry to become a Catholic. To many of my colleagues, this seemed a horrible mistake, but to Joetta and I, it was "coming home."

In January, we made a pilgrimage to Rome to symbolize our desire to place ourselves under the authority of Pope John Paul II and the Roman Catholic Church. This March, Joetta and I made a pilgrimage to a Marian site in Eastern Europe to thank the Blessed Mother for bringing us into the Church. We now look forward with great anticipation to being received into full communion in the Catholic Church this coming Easter Vigil. This will be the culmination of a 23 month, life transforming odyssey. Thank you Mary for loving us home.

Ummm, scripture is all we have to go on, that we can be sure goes back to the apostles (if you're a believer, anyway). The Catholic Church began to invent all sorts of things along the way, starting very early on. I don't accept anything made up by men as being on equal basis with scripture.

For instance, the "assumption of Mary" - that was simply made up. It wasn't even declared "from the seat" until the mid 1800's. But there's no evidence for it, no basis for it, none. The church has a long tradition, and the church fathers wrote a lot - and there is nothing indicating Mary died anything other than a natural death. The same can be said of the issue of her perpetual virginity.

This gets into the thing that keeps me from the church (though other things attract me to the church, the liturgy, parts of the tradition, etc) - a lot of stuff that got added along the way. I mean, the Borgias bought into the Papacy, they had orgies in the Vatican. Am I supposed to believe that anything "from the seat" (or whatever they call it) by men like that is on par with the writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John or the Apostles Paul, Peter and James? Sorry, can't accept that.

there is nothing within scripture that indicates Mary has any special position outside of agreeing to bear the Messiah and cooperate with God

Right. And also be the mother of the disciples. You don't think this is extraordinary?

1 Timothy says there is one mediator between man and God, the man Christ Jesus. Hebrews talks about Jesus as our great High Priest and there is no one between man and God but Jesus. No priests. No Mary. No one.

I am not aware of any scripture that would say that saints cannot intercede before Christ, or priests cannot do what priests are supposed to do. Re-read the passages you are referring to -- they don't say it.

undue emphasis and focus on Mary that keeps me away from the Catholic church to this point

I think you just told me that there should be no priests; are you saying that Catohlic Priesthood you could possibly live with, but not the Marian devotions?

they are quite definitely "worshipping" her - I doubt the average lay person, especially in the third world where there is little education, knows the difference (splitting hairs) of "adoration" vs. "veneration".

The difference is profound; it is not splitting hairs. When you see people in the Third World -- or any other world -- offer the holy Sacrifice of the Mass to Mary, that would be when mariolatry will occur. The reality is that Protestants do not really worship anything, because they don't have the Mass. So to you kneeling and prostrating is worship. That is entirely your defect of faith.

Nowhere does the Bible indicate Mary has any special status in the afterlife

Apocalypse 12.

There's no basis for it except a tradition that developed within the church (in my opinion, at least) out of old goddess worshiping pagans who were brought into the faith.

If it is a tradition that developed within the Church, not as a nod to pagans, but by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, how would you know the difference?

Was there any authoritative body existent in the time Christ walked the earth that would have found for Jesus over the Pharisees when they claimed his disciples were "harvesting" on the Sabbath?

A plausible accusation does not prove the agreement of God.

The problem here is you will trust a book that can be twisted according to its own texts, but you will not trust the Church Jesus built because it does not square with your prejudice against doctrinal development.

Just want to touch one quick thing on your post. I agree wholeheartedly that there were a lot of scummy Popes. If you find a Catholic who claims they were free of flaws, knock 'em on the head for me! But...I think you have an strange view of when "ex Cathedra" applies.

It is not normal for the Pope to speak "ex cathedra." Nowhere near everything he says qualifies for this status. In fact, most scholars believe such authority has been used only 7 times in the last 2000 years. Not a common occurance, by any strech. Wikipedia actually has a decent list:

Tome to Flavian", Pope Leo I, 449, on the two natures in Christ, received by the Council of Chalcedon;
Letter of Pope Agatho, 680, on the two wills of Christ, received by the Third Council of Constantinople;
Benedictus Deus, Pope Benedict XII, 1336, on the beatific vision of the just prior to final judgment;
Cum occasione, Pope Innocent X, 1653, condemning five propositions of Jansen as heretical;
Auctorem fidei, Pope Pius VI, 1794, condemning seven Jansenist propositions of the Synod of Pistoia as heretical;
Ineffabilis Deus, Pope Pius IX, 1854, defining the immaculate conception; and
Munificentissimus Deus, Pope Pius XII, 1950, defining the assumption of Mary.

Now, if you'd like to have a discussion on any of these, feel free to ask, and I'm sure that there are many Catholic FReepers who would be more than willing to talk with you!

Ummm, scripture is all we have to go on, that we can be sure goes back to the apostles (if you're a believer, anyway).

Again, you are assuming nothing was supposed to change. I'm not saying you are wrong. I'm saying that presumption needs to be validated.

The Catholic Church began to invent all sorts of things along the way, starting very early on. I don't accept anything made up by men as being on equal basis with scripture.

Then how do you exempt the New Testament from your lack of acceptence?

The Church disagrees with you. What investigation have you conducted into the validity of the Catholic claims as opposed to the Protestant claims?

a lot of stuff that got added along the way. ...Am I supposed to believe that anything "from the seat" (or whatever they call it) by men like that is on par with the writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John or the Apostles Paul, Peter and James? Sorry, can't accept that.

That, of course, is your choice, but do not confuse your preference for one source over another as dispositive.

The modern student can't even get a straight story about the Reagan administration; I'm sure not going to give the benefit of doubt to those opposed to the Church. Particularly when I spent twenty years a "slave to sin" as a "saved" Bible christian, but I was released from that torment as a Catholic.

Well, that's the rub, isn't it? I do feel I am under guidance by the Holy Spirit, and it's what tells me instinctively, in the gut, in my being, that the entire Mary thing is bunk. I'm talking a deep, visceral conviction that it's absolute rubbish made up whole cloth.

That, in fact, is the one thing that has kept me from "crossing the Tiber" even though I am equally dissatisfied with Protestantism at the moment.

Seriously, how can Mary "hear" all the "prayers" directed at her if she isn't omnipresent? It's ridiculous. And I've thought it through repeatedly - any attempt to get around the fact that Mary is only a human soul and cannot possibly interact simultaneously with potentially billions of human prayer "requests" ends up back at omnipresence no matter how you slice it. And that's ridiculous.

Not to mention, why on earth does anyone feel the need to put anyone in between themselves and Jesus when all you really need is Jesus (as Jesus himself says). It's illogical.

Hmm what's in this glass here?

I think I sent you a private commo that was spoze to be public. Excuse me for the repetition.

The dogma of the Assumption does not touch on the question of Mary's natural death. So the lack of evidence of early thought that she did NOT die a natural death would have no determinative bearing on the dogma.

Ummm, scripture is all we have to go on, that we can be sure goes back to the apostles (if you're a believer, anyway). The Catholic Church began to invent all sorts of things along the way, starting very early on. I don't accept anything made up by men as being on equal basis with scripture.

This, like your characterization of Marian dogma and devotion as Mariolatry, skews the argument. I'm not going ot defend mariolatry, and if I thought Church traditions and dogma were just "made up by men" I'd look at them differently myself. You may not trust God's promise to His Church, and so you may find Scripture "all we have to go on". Certainly, if the teachings of the Church were just "inventions" I wouldn't rely on them either. But maybe they're not inventions.

The Doctrine of Papal infallibility is not about the virtue of Popes. It's about God's promise to guide His Church. You can get clear water from rusty pipes and earthen vessels can hold treasures. The pipes are still rusty, the vessels earthen. It's the old book-cover thing, or a variation on it.

One advantage of being careful about how you approach the controversy is that you may find (I don't know) what you are accepting which may be just as questionable as what what you currently cannot accept.

And I've thought it through repeatedly - any attempt to get around the fact that Mary is only a human soul and cannot possibly interact simultaneously with potentially billions of human prayer "requests" ends up back at omnipresence no matter how you slice it.

Could you share every step of the argument?

Against the general question I'd offer that she doesn't need to be omni-present, just able to be at more locations at once than the average human in the not-yet-resurrected body.

I don't mean to be flippant. I DO mean to say that "more than I have" is not equivalent to "all". Mary's being able to "process" more than one praying person at a time doesn't mean she can do anything and everything.

And as for her having more abilities than I do, this is where examining the Xtian hope in general and the Assumption in particular comes in handy.

The Assumkmption does not proclaim that Mary, instead of dying, went up like a sky-rocket. It proclaims that she "currently" enjoys the fullness of what every saved Xtian will enjoy at the last day.

Then our "made up" traditions suggest that as our risen Lord was able to break bread and vanish or to appear suddenly in a locked room, but still could eat as we do and was palpable so the saints in glory seem to have the ability to show themselves to people here and there.

So, unless a tradition's being Catholic is sufficient grounds to disbelieve it, the issue of MORE abilities is pretty much settled. What we don't know is the limit of those abilities.

WE DO know that the number of souls on earth and in Purgatory is not infinite, though it's probably really really large. So infinite capacity is not required, just really really large capacity. So omni-presence is not required.

This is what I mean by being careful. NOT that I don't goof, but that going carefully, step-by-step, and taking seriously each apparently minor distinction is better than a bunch of tacit and unexamined assumptions.

Mary is only a human soul

ONLY a human soul? But humans are what our Lord came here to save - and while we have a decent idea of what we were saved FROM, maybe we need to look at what we are saved TO. And maybe it's pretty amazingly wonderful and more than we dared to hope for.

Again, if your "feelings" where wrong, how could one prove it to you? To have no answer to that question is to admit you would be unresponsive even if one DID prove it to you.

You are very much at a point analogous to the rich young ruler. You are almost there, but you will not release the one vanity standing in your way. I pray you reconsider and listen to my witness regarding freedom from the law of sin and death as Paul spoke of in Romans 7.

Seriously, how can Mary "hear" all the "prayers" directed at her if she isn't omnipresent?

I don't know, but then I do not profess expertise on the physics of "The Presence of God."

Do you?

Not to mention, why on earth does anyone feel the need to put anyone in between themselves and Jesus when all you really need is Jesus (as Jesus himself says). It's illogical.

That is a misstatement of the Catholic position, as well as a fairly absurd assertion regarding logic. The first, I'm sure you know, you just don't agree. The second, ignores the testimony of Scripture that God often chooses things that "fly in the face" of man's wisdom.

One can not claim God didn't do something without the same authority one would need to claim God DID do something. Are you claiming such authority?

Hello - please remove me from this ping list.

And if anyone of my Catholic sisters and brothers can do so, please give me any scriptural passage in which Mary is prayed to.

In the church I attend, the central issue for those who attend is not “coming home” to “the church”. Rather it is “coming home” to the Lord Jesus Christ and His life transforming mercy, grace, and righteousness = the Good News of Jesus Christ!

I could go to many passages in the New Testament to explain what I am talking about - but here is just one in Colossians 2: Notice that in this passage, which Catholics and Protestants unitedly believe are part of the inerrant Word of God - this passage after explaining in magnificent terms what our salvation means.....tells us that all treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found in Jesus Christ alone! It further tells us to be on guard against being “taken captive” by hollow and deceptive philosophy which depends on “human tradition” and the basic principles of this world rather than on CHRIST !

Colossians 2

1I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. 2My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. 5For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.

6So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, 7rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

8See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.

9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. 11In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature,[a] not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, 12having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

13When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature,[b] God made you[c] alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.[d]

16Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. 18Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. 19He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.

20Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: 21”Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? 22These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. 23Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

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