Posted on 09/29/2014 2:36:41 PM PDT by ebb tide
A simple mistranslation, no doubt </sarc>
The Catholic church, 40 years ago, decided to give up on teaching about hell, and how one ends up in hell. Souls in hell are lost.
"And the Church is the guardian of the Word of God as well."
Then why does the Catholic Church not stress reading the Word of God, as a whole? Yes, you get 3 disjointed readings in a mass, but they are just that: disjointed as to the story of salvation.
"A Christian life without the Church is impossible."
I propose that not only is it possible, but when you consider the current state of the Catholic church, and how its management acts, it is necessary.
You would be correct.
Satan will never overcome Christ's Church.
He (it?) certainly can corrupt any man-made organization to death.
Your parish was filled with sinners so you left?
**Then why does the Catholic Church not stress reading the Word of God, as a whole? Yes, you get 3 disjointed readings in a mass, but they are just that: disjointed as to the story of salvation. **
This is not true. Not always, but very often and every day during Lent and Advent the first reading and the Gospel are connected.
Please take some Bible Study classes or study the readings for the upcoming Sunday in a group taught by a priest or pastoral associate. You will be amazed at how much you learn.
**As a former Catholic, this shows a primary difference between Catholics and other Christians.**
You are always a Catholic and can come back at any time. Is there a Catholics Can Come Home class at your church?
Catholics are disposed primarily to Christ. The Liturgy of the Word will speak about Christ and what he taught. And the Liturgy of the Eucharist is totally centered on Christ.
I invite you to come back to the one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church at any time. (Believe me, you will come back.)
** protection of souls**
Oh, my, who has misled you. The Sacrament of Reconciliation protect souls from falling into hell.
“The Catholic church, 40 years ago, decided to give up on teaching about hell, and how one ends up in hell.”
False: http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/para/1035.htm
http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2014/03/23/repent-now-to-avoid-hell-pope-tells-mafia-members/
“Souls in hell are lost.”
True. And that is exactly what the Church has always taught and still teaches.
“Then why does the Catholic Church not stress reading the Word of God, as a whole?”
It does. You can even receive an indulgence for doing so:
The biblical formation of Christians
75. In order to achieve the goal set by the Synod, namely, an increased emphasis on the Bible in the Church’s pastoral activity, all Christians, and catechists in particular, need to receive suitable training. Attention needs to be paid to the biblical apostolate, which is a very valuable means to that end, as the Church’s experience has shown. The Synod Fathers also recommended that, possibly through the use of existing academic structures, centres of formation should be established where laity and missionaries can be trained to understand, live and proclaim the word of God. Also, where needed, specialized institutes for biblical studies should be established to ensure that exegetes possess a solid understanding of theology and an appropriate appreciation for the contexts in which they carry out their mission.[261]
[AND]
During the Synod, it was clear that a number of local Churches still lack a complete translation of the Bible in their own languages. How many people today hunger and thirst for the word of God, yet remain deprived of the “widely available access to Sacred Scripture”[372] desired by the Second Vatican Council! For this reason the Synod considered it important, above all, to train specialists committed to translating the Bible into the various languages.[373] I would encourage the investment of resources in this area. In particular I wish to recommend supporting the work of the Catholic Biblical Federation, with the aim of further increasing the number of translations of sacred Scripture and their wide diffusion.[374] Given the very nature of such an enterprise, it should be carried out as much as possible in cooperation with the different Bible Societies. http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_exh_20100930_verbum-domini_en.html#The_Word_Of_God_And_Culture
About the indulgence for reading scripture (and this is NOT new): http://www.catholic.com/quickquestions/can-i-receive-a-plenary-indulgence-for-reading-the-bible
“Yes, you get 3 disjointed readings in a mass, but they are just that: disjointed as to the story of salvation.”
Not for me. First of all, the readings are not disjointed. They share a common theme. Take this Sunday’s readings, for example:
Reading 1
Ezekiel 18:25-28
Thus says the LORD:
You say, “The LORD’s way is not fair!”
Hear now, house of Israel:
Is it my way that is unfair, or rather, are not your ways unfair?
When someone virtuous turns away from virtue to commit iniquity, and dies,
it is because of the iniquity he committed that he must die.
But if he turns from the wickedness he has committed,
he does what is right and just,
he shall preserve his life;
since he has turned away from all the sins that he has committed,
he shall surely live, he shall not die.
[theme of Reading 1 is clearly mercy!]
Responsorial Psalm
PS 25:4-5, 8-9, 10, 14
R/ (6a) Remember your mercies, O Lord.
Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.
R/ Remember your mercies, O Lord.
Remember that your compassion, O LORD,
and your love are from of old.
The sins of my youth and my frailties remember not;
in your kindness remember me,
because of your goodness, O LORD.
R/ Remember your mercies, O Lord.
Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
and teaches the humble his way.
R/ Remember your mercies, O Lord.
[theme of the RP is clearly Mercy!]
Reading 2
PHIL 2:1-11
Brothers and sisters:
If there is any encouragement in Christ,
any solace in love,
any participation in the Spirit,
any compassion and mercy,
complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love,
united in heart, thinking one thing.
Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory;
rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves,
each looking out not for his own interests,
but also for those of others.
Have in you the same attitude
that is also in Christ Jesus,
Who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and found human in appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
which is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
[theme for Reading 2 is clearly mercy and what Christ did for the sake of mercy!]
Gospel
MT 21:28-32
Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people:
“What is your opinion?
A man had two sons.
He came to the first and said,
‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’
He said in reply, ‘I will not,’
but afterwards changed his mind and went.
The man came to the other son and gave the same order.
He said in reply, ‘Yes, sir, ‘but did not go.
Which of the two did his father’s will?”
They answered, “The first.”
Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you,
tax collectors and prostitutes
are entering the kingdom of God before you.
When John came to you in the way of righteousness,
you did not believe him;
but tax collectors and prostitutes did.
Yet even when you saw that,
you did not later change your minds and believe him.”
[the theme of the Gospel is clearly what sinners did because of their desire for God’s mercy!]
So, what do we have when you put it altogether? Mercy, Mercy, Christ’s incarnation for mercy for us, and Christ telling the proud that public sinners will enter the kingdom before them because they sought out God’s mercy when John preached repentance]
“I propose that not only is it possible, but when you consider the current state of the Catholic church, and how its management acts, it is necessary.”
That is completely false. The Church is Christ’s Body. To say you can live a Christian life without the Church is the same thing as saying you live it without Christ for the Church is His Body. The “Me and Jesus” movement, which denies the necessity of the Church (which Christ founded and sent) is not an orthodox Christian movement, but instead a manifestation of a false gospel which denies what Christ did, what Christ said, and what Christ wants. It has more in common with self-directed socialism than it does with historic and biblical Christianity.
How insulting and misleading.
Multiple dioceses around me have parishioners who promote not just sin, but what is clearly abject evil.
The priests in the parishes in these dioceses don't just not want to address that evil, but they actively invite in local politicians that actively promote that evil to come in and talk to parishioners.
I tried very hard to get priests - pastors and lower level priests both - to address the sin, but they very actively refuse to do this.
I'm sick - SICK - of Catholics who distort and pervert the problem of their church coddling up to evil. I'll pray for you.
You’re doing the Lord’s work, Yossarian. Don’t let them get you down.
Another mean-spirited act by the "humble" Pope Francis to add to his growing list of nasty deeds. He's methodically stomping out all opposition to his destructive, humanist agenda.
From four days ago:
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI Asks To Be Reinstated As Pope
Jesus is the Word. The Church is His Body, "the pillar and foundation of truth."
Jesus had harsh words for those who would not "listen to the church."
Catholics consider non-Catholic Christians to be Christians, although imperfectly united to the Church to varying degrees, with the Orthodox Churches being most closely united.
I find that Protestants tend to view the Church as a stumbling block to God's revelation in Holy Scripture. But that's not true. Jesus is the Head of His Church. The Church is His Body, and His Church teaches with the Authority given it by Christ.
In Scripture, Jesus tells us repeatedly that He came to establish His Kingdom, or His Church. By correlating the verses in my tag line ( Isaiah 22:22, Matthew 16:19, Revelation 3:7), one can see that the papacy represents the vice-regency of the Eternal Davidic Kingdom, with Jesus as its eternal King.
Private interpretation of Scripture as the sole rule of faith has no basis in Scripture, Church Tradition, or Christian history before Luther.
The Catholic church, as it presently manifests itself (and has for the last 30 plus years), is managed largely by people who have zero problem with
- the sin of murder (provided it's done in the womb and out of public eye), or
- the sin of coveting (when it tells people that the wealthy are greedy - some may be, but most earn it), and
- of outright theft (when they support government seizing income for redistribution purposes), and
- (by a sizable fraction of the management) the monstrosity of covering up child sexual abuse. NOTE: I said "cover up", and will hold to that. Look at how even the evil Mahoney was allowed to vote in the latest Conclave.
These things by definition CANNOT be of the "Body of Christ". To claim otherwise is to slander Christ the Lord as a being some kind of Supreme Being, but who's most active and authoritative parts in this world are sinful.
I know this isn't a popular or fun conclusion. I am not saying this to provoke, but to point out a monstrous problem. I am not lying when I say that I was indeed a very faithful Catholic.
**- the sin of murder (provided it’s done in the womb and out of public eye), or **
Wrong.
Are you aware that the Catholic Church started 40 Days for Life?
Where are you getting these false ideas?
**- the sin of coveting (when it tells people that the wealthy are greedy - some may be, but most earn it), and **
I have never heard this preached. How about those like Osteen and Warren and TV evangelists who beg for and spend money foolishly?
**- of outright theft (when they support government seizing income for redistribution purposes), and **
Where did you live that this was practiced?
**- (by a sizable fraction of the management) the monstrosity of covering up child sexual abuse. NOTE: I said “cover up”, and will hold to that. Look at how even the evil Mahoney was allowed to vote in the latest Conclave.**
Are you aware that most sexual abuse is committed by family members, then teachers, then coaches, the non-Catholic ministers?
Priests are way down on the list.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.