Posted on 01/10/2014 3:41:50 AM PST by markomalley
"If we Christians believe professing the faith, even safeguarding it, if we are custodians of the faith , and entrust ourselves to God , the Lord , we will be victorious Christians. And this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith". Otherwise we would be "half hearted Christians" those "defeated Christians" of which the Church "is full", said Pope Francis during his homily at Mass this morning at Casa Santa Marta.
Vatican Radio reports the Pope's homily focused on the passage from the First Letter of St. John, in which the apostle , "insists " on "that word which for him is as an expression of Christian life" , " remaining in the Lord" to love God and to love our neighbor . This "remaining in love" of God is the work of the Holy Spirit and our faith and has a concrete effect:
"Whoever remains in God, whoever is begotten by God, whoever remains in love wins the world and the victory is our faith. For our part, faith. For God - for this 'remaining' - the Holy Spirit, which carries out this work of grace. For our part, faith. This is really something! And this is the victory that has won over the world: our faith ! Our faith can do anything! This is victory! And it would be good if we repeated this, even just to ourselves, because we are so often defeated Christians. The Church is full of defeated Christians who do not believe in this, that faith is the victory, who do not live this faith, because if you do not live this faith, then there is only defeat and the prince of the world wins over the world".
The Pope recalled that Jesus praised the very faith of the Woman, the Canaanite, the man born blind and said that those who have faith, like a mustard seed can move mountains . "This faith - he says - requires two attitudes of us: to profess and entrust ourselves". First of all "profess".
"Faith is to profess God, but the God who has revealed Himself to us, from the days of our fathers until now, the God of history. And this is what we recite every day in the Creed. It is one thing to recite the Creed from the heart and another like parrots, no? I believe, I believe in God, I believe in Jesus Christ, I believe ... do I believe in what I say ? Is this profession of faith true or am I reciting it off by heart, because I have to? Or do I only half believe in it? Professing the Faith! All of it, not just a part of it! All of it! And safeguarding the faith in its entirety, as it came to us, on the road of tradition: all of the faith ! And ' how do I know if I profess the faith well? There is a sign: those who profess the faith well, all of the faith, are able to worship, worship God".
"We know how to ask God how to thank God - the Pope said - but to worship God, to praise God is something more! Only those who have this strong faith are capable of worship". And Pope Francis added: "I dare say that the thermometer of the life of the Church is a bit ' low in this: the capacity to worship is somewhat scarce, "we do not have a lot , some , yes ... " . And this "is because we are not convinced or only half convinced in the profession of our faith". So - said the Pope - the first attitude is to profess the faith and safeguard it . The other attitude is "entrusting ourselves".
"The man or woman who has faith entrust themselves to God: they entrust themselves! Paul, in a dark time in his life, said: 'I know well to whom I have entrusted myself'. To God! The Lord Jesus! Entrusting ourselves and this leads us to hope. Just as the profession of faith leads us to the worship and praise of God, trust in God leads us to an attitude of hope. There are many Christians who have a watered down hope, not a very strong one: a faint hope . Why? Because they do not have the strength or the courage to trust in the Lord . But if we Christians believe professing the faith, even safeguarding it, if we are custodians of the faith , and entrust ourselves to God , the Lord , we will be victorious Christians. And this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith. "
The Creed: A Spiritual Treasure (and its relevance to contemporary society
The Nicene Creed [Catholic Caucus]
On the Mend: The Church in the Early 21st Century
Radio Replies Second Volume - Value of a Creed
The Nicene Creed: Ancient Symbol of the Catholic Faith [Ecumenical]
What's the Point of Creeds?
What’s the Point of Creeds?
Who Needs a Creed? (part 1 of 12)
Creed 7: Ascended Into Heaven
Beginning Catholic: Creeds: Apostles, Nicene, Athanasian [Ecumenical]
Beginning Catholic: Basic Tenets of Catholicism [Ecumenical]
The Catholic Nicene Creed
We Believe in One God...: The Nicene Creed at Mass [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]
I Believe [Apostle's Creed]
Why the Creed Doesn't Mention the Eucharist
The Apostles' Creed in Public and Private Worship
More Than Our Father [The Creed]
The Nicene Creed in Greek and Latin
The Creed - latest revisions proposed by ICEL
839 "Those who have not yet received the Gospel are related to the People of God in various ways."325 The relationship of the Church with the Jewish People. When she delves into her own mystery, the Church, the People of God in the New Covenant, discovers her link with the Jewish People,326 "the first to hear the Word of God."327 The Jewish faith, unlike other non-Christian religions, is already a response to God's revelation in the Old Covenant. To the Jews "belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ",328 "for the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable."329840 and when one considers the future, God's People of the Old Covenant and the new People of God tend towards similar goals: expectation of the coming (or the return) of the Messiah. But one awaits the return of the Messiah who died and rose from the dead and is recognized as Lord and Son of God; the other awaits the coming of a Messiah, whose features remain hidden till the end of time; and the latter waiting is accompanied by the drama of not knowing or of misunderstanding Christ Jesus.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
It ain't just Pope Francis.
My question to you, ebb tide, is if you have a problem here with Pope Francis or with the Catechism?
Thank-you for your help. God Bless.
Please see post number 23. Thank-you.
Correction: Please see post number 22. Thank-you.
Yes and yes. I have big problems with JP II’s catechism.
Pope St Pius X: “The Jews have not recognized our Lord, therefore we cannot recognize the Jewish people.”
From the Catechism of Pope St Pius X (in regards to the First Commandment):
15 Q: What else does the First Commandment forbid?
A: The First Commandment also forbids all dealings with the devil, and all association with anti-Christian sects.
We hold the Jewish people in special regard because their covenant with God has never been revoked
And concluding: Yes, Virginia, there is salvation outside the Catholic Church!
Respect for other religions and the belief that the covenant of the Jews is fulfilled in Catholic Christianity (and therefore is not revoked) are valid Catholic beliefs of all ages. They -- nor the John Paul's Catechism, -- do not deny that salvation comes solely from the Catholic Church.
I am troubled by the ecumenical urges of many modern Catholics. It is possible that this pope shares them. But let us read and understand what we read before we start another anti-papist rant, please.
The above is not true and that lie has only been taught since the Second Vatican Council.
I am not a anit-papist and EENS is dogma.
Thank-you and God Bless.
....Yet Blessed John Paul II with Blessed John XXIII will both be declared saints this coming April. What say you?
Crossing threads now, are we? Cat got you tongue?
Seriously?
EENS [Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus] is dogma.
I know. No one is negating it.
Francis is. Did you not read Vennari’s article?
I have not read it. Got a link?
Yes, I have a link. I posted it to you in Post 30.
My only disagreement is with this syllogism:
The Old Covenant … has never been revoked. This means that the goal of the conversion of the Jews is abandoned, and that their salvation as a people is embraced, setting aside forever the notion that their baptism is required.
This indeed allows some people to come down on Pope Francis as a ton of bricks each time he mentions that "never been revoked" or asks for plain civility with people of different religions. But the phrase in itself is true. The covenant with the Jews has not been revoked precisely because it has been fulfilled in the Church. We are the Israel; we have the covenant and they, the Jews should come to us.
It could be that Pope Francis is a "man of Nostra Aetate"; it could be that he is not; and it could be that he is somewhere in between. Judging by a few warm words toward the Jews, and a chance photograph in the vicinity of a menorah, -- which is our Christian obligation of charity, -- it is impossible to tell.
I also wholly agree that with the Pope his warm and loving personality tends to bubble over the top and I am sure that with time he will find a way to remain on clean doctrinal ground in his teaching.
Well, the "chance" photograph actually shows him lighting a menorah.
And from the Catechism of Pope St Pius X (in regards to the First Commandment):
15 Q: What else does the First Commandment forbid?
A: The First Commandment also forbids all dealings with the devil, and all association with anti-Christian sects.
Now please keep in mind that I'm quoting the last Pope who has been raised to the altars, before you again accuse of me being on a anti-papist rant.
Tell the Franciscans of the Immaculate about “warm and loving”.
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