MD: “I don’t like what’s going on, not at all”
If this means what I think it does, I don’t like it , either. Thousands of posts and —”it’s down to you and down to me” (with apologies to Princess Bride).
I personally wish that some of the posts on this thread by my fellow Catholics had not been expressed in the manner that they have been. Having admitted that, I can fully understand the frustration that was the impetus for the posts.
I also don’t think it was cool, metmom, to make a comment about Dr. Brian’s references to his daily prayer life. Hats off to you, Dr. B, for having a plan that you are able and willing to pursue, and for being willing to share it. I, too, along with Mad Dawg and countless other lay Catholics throughout the world, pray the Liturgy of the Hours every day. There are enough of us who are committed to do this that there is always an on-going demand for the volumes of the Hours. People make time for what is important to them. It’s that simple. Alex, what matters is that praying the Hours steeps one in Sacred Scripture in a way that we are united with thousands around the world praying the same prayers in unison with each other every day. There isn’t a valid reason for anyone to ask “why not more?”, when it has been proposed that someone is doing meditative reading of Sacred Scripture.
Dr. E, I have no reason to doubt that you were at a Catholic wedding. You have made mention of it before. What I don’t understand is that you refer to it as “high Mass”. You must be as old as I am if it was a “high Mass”, as they have not been called that for a very long time now—and nobody is as old as I am :-), so I am not sure about the high Mass.
What I did find, in your post #3,513 that is not true is the following:
“Rome ignores the Epistles and the Old Testament because those book (sic) directly contradict Rome’s ideology.” This is absolutely not a true statement. Anyone who would take the time—just once—to read the Mass Readings of the day posted by Salvation will see that what you have written is not true.
It is also a major, broad-brush stretch for you to write in the same post: “most Roman Catholics spend their Sundays on their knees contemplating their own good works, ignorantly praying to dead people; venerating Mary as a ‘co-redeemer’ “
That’s not a truthful picture of the average, practicing Catholic.
And to just such a Catholic, it would be painful to read your further comment -—”and most egregiously of all, partaking in the blasphemy they call the eucharist.......served up again like yesterday’s pork roast” .....He sits making His enemies such as Rome his footstool”.
I live in a large metropolitan area and in this area there are quite a large number of parishes who have adoration chapels that are open 24 hours a day. One could go into any of these chapels at any hour of day or night and find people there who have come to place themselves in the company of the Lord to pray. In any of those chapels, were you to go into them at 11:30 at night, you very often would see almost a dozen people in “scrubs” who have just come off their night shift at the hospital and have stopped to pay a visit to the Lord before going home to sleep. You would see young couples come in and pray together on weekend nights, either before or after an evening together. Almost without exception the streams of people who come and go in a 24-hour period bring their Bibles with them.
Young mothers show up regularly at morning Masses in the 5 parishes in my suburban community. Students at the nearby colleges come in before classes. Often when I pay a visit to church in the afternoon, I see the same postal carrier, who is there every afternoon to pray on his 15-minute break.
You can ridicule Catholics all you want—all of you who are inclined to do so—but it doesn’t change the fact that hidden from your eyes there are Catholics to whom the heavenly Father, the Divine Savior Jesus and the Comforter, Holy Spirit mean everything to them and they live it as a 24-hour relationship.
One who is not a practicing Catholic simply cannot create their own single template of what it means to be Catholic and present it as a Truth. It is not. And it needs to be called out as NOT the truth, NOT the whole truth about Catholics.
There are surely some very good things that, hidden now, will be revealed—things that escape the notice of passersby.
Dr. E., you posted to me about month ago that I would “be back”. I did come back for this post, but am very happy now to take my place among the lurkers 99% of the time. I ventured out on this occasion partially because of some of the gracious FReepmails I received some time ago—one in particular which I will always remember.
I’m quite ready now to pull back to lurker status.
Meditative Scripture reading is
“meditating reading is”-—
is a mistake :-)
but it doesn’t change the fact that hidden from your eyes there are Catholics to whom the heavenly Father, the Divine Savior Jesus and the Comforter, Holy Spirit mean everything to them and they live it as a 24-hour relationship.
I have no doubt that is true. I don’t know for what %
I applaud them and wish to avoid hindering their walk with God in any way. I don’t write to or for them.
I write to and for those for whom THE ABOVE IS NOT true.
It is clear there are more than several of those running around loose.
Meditative Scripture reading is
I'm sure it was just an oversight that you left out
DA BOMB!
Nice post.
That's what the mother of the bride called it.
And no one corrects the mother of the bride.
(And I wasn't "at" a Roman Catholic wedding. I was a bridesmaid in three Roman Catholic weddings. I've been "at" a dozen Roman Catholic weddings.)
What is being argued here isn't "why not more?", but rather "why not all of it?" There's a general belief among Catholics notion that they're hearing the whole Bible at Mass, and they don't need to read (the rest of) the Bible for themselves.
Above all else, here's the valid reason for asking "why not more" Bible reading:
"...from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.The Catholic Church has failed you in that regard. What conclusion should be made, after learning that the Catholic Mass promotes no more than 27.5% of Holy Scripture, and reading layperson claims that hearing 27.5% of Holy Scripture in Mass (or 12.7%, for those who just attend weekly Mass) is enough teaching, training, reproof, correction, wisdom, equipment and righteousness for them?
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;
so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."
-- 2 Timothy 3:15-17
Great post! Thank you.