9 Ways to Restore All Things in Christ

http://www.catholicgentleman.net ^ | October 24, 2014 | Joe Heschmeyer

[NKP_Vet]

The world looks pretty frightening for the Church these days. Christians are being martyred around the world, whether it be by Communists in China or by Islamic radicals in the Middle East. Meanwhile, Western society is becoming ever more anti-religious, and the Church is facing increasing threats by secularists in many countries, including in the United States. As big as these external threats are, yet larger ones exist within the Church. Bad priests and religious educators have led, and continue to lead, untold numbers of Catholics astray; partially as a result, there are large numbers of Catholics who have either left the Church entirely, or who are Catholic in name alone, or who are lukewarm or heretical.

This picture can seem rather bleak. Fortunately, the Church has weathered such storms – and worse – before, and we have the example of our forebears to see how to survive. Consider, in particular, St. Pius X, who died 100 years ago. As I’ve mentioned before, Pius didn’t want to become pope, a fact he made no secret of. In fact, he talked about it openly in his first encyclical, E Supremi, giving two reasons: his own unworthiness, and the grim situation of the society of his day:

3. Then again, to omit other motives, We were terrified beyond all else by the disastrous state of human society today. For who can fail to see that society is at the present time, more than in any past age, suffering from a terrible and deeprooted malady which, developing every day and eating into its inmost being, is dragging it to destruction? You understand, Venerable Brethren, what this disease is – apostasy from God, than which in truth nothing is more allied with ruin, according to the word of the Prophet: “For behold they that go far from Thee shall perish” (Ps. 1xxii., 17).

Seeing the dismal state of the world, Pius dedicated his pontificate to a single aim: to restore all things in Christ. Since we face many of the same problems today that he faced a century ago, this call remains as relevant as ever. But how do we go about doing that?

1. Look to Jesus: Several years after E Supremi, Pius summarized the encyclical this way: “We stated in Our first encyclical that We would labor without ceasing “to restore all things in Christ.”We begged everyone to turn their eyes with Us to Jesus, “the apostle and high priest of our confession…the author and finisher of faith.”[Heb. 3:1; 12:2]” If you want to restore all things in Christ, live and act like Christ.

2. Take the Virgin Mary as Your Model: Christ isn’t easy to imitate, since He is more than perfect: He’s Divine. We’re not God, so acting like we are isn’t always the best model (that is, what is fitting for Christ might not be fitting for us, given the situation). Pius recognized this, and called upon us to imitate Mary as well:

Since the majesty of that Model may be too much for fallen human nature, God mercifully gave Us another model to propose for your imitation, the glorious Virgin Mother of God. While being as close to Christ as human nature permits, she is better suited to the needs of our weak nature.

3. Imitate the Saints: In addition to Mary, Pius called us to imitate the Saints. This is solid Biblical advice: St. Paul says, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1; 1 Cor. 4:16). The Saints show us how to imitate Christ. We might draw the analogy to early childhood: sometimes, the best way young children can learn to imitate adult behavior (walking, talking, and the rest) is by watching the example of slightly-older children.

For this reason, Pius wrote encyclicals on St. Gregory the Great, on St. Anselm, and on St. Charles Borromeo. He wanted the Saints before our eyes, partly because they had been through these problems before, and triumphed. As he said of Pope St. Gregory:

When Gregory assumed the Supreme Pontificate the disorder in public affairs had reached its climax; the ancient civilization had all but disappeared and barbarism was spreading throughout the dominions of the crumbling Roman Empire. Italy, abandoned by the Emperors of Byzantium, had been left a prey of the still unsettled Lombards who roamed up and down the whole country laying waste everywhere with fire and sword and bringing desolation and death in their train. This very city, threatened from without by its enemies, tried from within by the scourges of pestilence, floods and famine, was reduced to such a miserable plight that it had become a problem how to keep the breath of life in the citizens and in the immense multitudes who flocked hither for refuge.

So Pope Pius X looked to Pope Gregory the Great as a model for the exact same reasons we ought to look to Pope Pius X as a model today: because, guided by Christ, he lead the Church through some dark and troubling times.

4. Be a Saint: Sanctity wins more souls than argumentation. Pius again: “We are of the opinion that the shining example of Christ’s soldiers has far greater value in the winning and sanctifying of souls than the words of profound treatises.” Even if you have the best Catholic apologetics or theology in the world, that won’t matter for much if your life doesn’t reflect the love of Christ. So be a Saint!

5. Sanctify Your Family and Your Work, and Help Restore Christian Civilization: Restoring all things in Christ is even bigger than evangelization. It’s also about building a truly Christian culture, “not only for the sanctification of his own soul, but also for the extension and increase of the Kingdom of God in individuals, families, and society.” Every field of work, every aspect of daily life, should be filled with Christ, since the “light of Catholic revelation is of such a nature that it diffuses itself with the greatest brilliance on every science.” For this reason, Pius explains:

To restore all things in Christ” includes not only what properly pertains to the divine mission of the Church, namely, leading souls to God, but also what We have already explained as flowing from that divine mission, namely, Christian civilization in each and every one of the elements composing it.

6. Pray for Priests and Seminarians: One of the chief ways that people encounter Christ is through His priests: in the Sacraments, in the proclamation of the Gospel, and in the priest himself. This is why holy priests are so important. Pius instructed the world’s bishops to make the formation of good priests a chief concern:

This being so, Venerable Brethren, of what nature and magnitude is the care that must be taken by you in forming the clergy to holiness! All other tasks must yield to this one. Wherefore the chief part of your diligence will be directed to governing and ordering your seminaries aright so that they may flourish equally in the soundness of their teaching and in the spotlessness of their morals.

Odds are, you’re not a bishop. But you can still do your part by supporting priests and seminarians, chiefly by your prayers. Holy priests are indispensable for the laity.

7. Do Not Be Afraid: That’s a phrase more associated with another saintly pope, it’s also a good summary of St. Pius X’s reminder that the Church gains the most from these dark times:

When vice runs wild, when persecution hangs heavy, when error is so cunning that it threatens her destruction by snatching many children from her bosom (and plunges them into the whirlpool of sin and impiety) – then, more than ever, the Church is strengthened from above. Whether the wicked will it or not, God makes even error aid in the triumph of Truth whose guardian and defender is the Church. He puts corruption in the service of sanctity, whose mother and nurse is the Church. Out of persecution He brings a more wondrous “freedom from our enemies.” For these reasons, when worldly men think they see the Church buffeted and almost capsized in the raging storm, then she really comes forth fairer, stronger, purer, and brighter with the lustre of distinguished virtues.

We haven’t been abandoned by God: He’s still in control, and He permits these situations for the good of the Church. Let’s not forget that.

8. Trust in Christ, Rather than Yourself: It’s easy to imagine that the last seven points can be accomplished by your own strength. They can’t, and Pius was quick to acknowledge this, reminding the bishops:

But, Venerable Brethren, we shall never, however much we exert ourselves, succeed in calling men back to the majesty and empire of God, except by means of Jesus Christ. “No one,” the Apostle admonishes us, “can lay other foundation than that which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (I. Cor.,iii., II.) It is Christ alone “whom the Father sanctified and sent into this world” (Is. x., 36), “the splendor of the Father and the image of His substance” (Hebr.i., 3), true God and true man: without whom nobody can know God with the knowledge for salvation, “neither doth anyone know the Father but the Son, and he to whom it shall please the Son to reveal Him.” (Matth. xi., 27.) Hence it follows that to restore all things in Christ and to lead men back to submission to God is one and the same aim.

If your attempts to win over souls are causing you to pray less, or miss Mass, or behave in an un-Christlike way, those are signs that you’re trying to do it on your own strength, rather than trusting in Him. Submission to Christ starts with us.

9. Be Catholic! If restoration of all things in Christ is submission to Christ, how can we reach Christ? Pius has an answer for that:

Now the way to reach Christ is not hard to find: it is the Church. Rightly does Chrysostom inculcate: “The Church is thy hope, the Church is thy salvation, the Church is thy refuge.” (Hom. de capto Euthropio, n. 6.) It was for this that Christ founded it, gaining it at the price of His blood, and made it the depositary of His doctrine and His laws, bestowing upon it at the same time an inexhaustible treasury of graces for the sanctification and salvation of men.

So there you have it. While things might look dark sometimes, remember that Christ is in control, and that our mission is clear: to be Catholic Saints, to draw others to Christ, and to sanctify our daily lives. If we do this, everything will be more than fine.

Joe Heschmeyer is a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas, a former attorney, a Royals fan, and a Catholic blogger at Shameless Popery. God willing, he will be ordained a priest in 2018.

[krunkygirl]

“...the life...” or the light? I don’t know...you tell me, please feel

[boatbums]

And then he did EXACTLY what his mother told him to do.

On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days. (John 2:1-12)

Would you point out what EXACTLY Mary told Jesus to do? From reading what John says happened, it sounds like Mary was telling the servants to do what Jesus told them and it was Jesus who was the one doing the telling. Not a word is said about Mary telling Jesus to do anything.

This really would not be any big deal either way, but we know some people have invented this whole scenario that in heaven Jesus HAS to do whatever His mother tells Him to do and a cult of Mary has been created to entrust to her all our needs and wants instead of going to Jesus, who is seen as unapproachable, harsh and judgmental. Yet, nowhere in God's word are we EVER given the slightest hint that this is how it works in Heaven. Jesus, as our high priest, shepherd and Savior, because he continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. He is able also to save us to the uttermost when we come to God by him, seeing he ever lives to make intercession for us.

[daniel1212]

I can see different people making different calls on what counts as "on-topic." For me, the single main factor here is that the discussion became what I consider increasingly divergent from the original source.

And since the posts dealt with aspects of that original source, and remarks by RCs, then such cannot be considered "off-topic." I do not see Climate Change entering in.

I'd say something similar concerning discussion on this forum. (For one thing, the Religion Moderator profile uses Mormon-based examples that are parallel to Protestant-based and Catholic-based examples.)

But if a Mormon posted "9 Ways to Restore All Things in Christ" both Prots and RCs would open up on them, with the latter having a double standard.

As this thread wound up being an "open" thread, I can definitely see discussion of differences in belief, but the overall direction in this thread has been what I consider increasingly tangential and fragmented.

If claims are made then they are subject to challenge and refutation, as shown by God's grace.

Maybe I'm just cynical, but probably the only groups that haven't had members do so on this forum are the groups that aren't well-represented on this forum

Oh, things like Swedenborgism and Roy Masters have also seen much rebuke, while and FC is officially pro-God, that of the KJV and not Mormonism.

I was wondering if anyone has ever been convinced (in what I'll call a "positive" direction) by the sorts of discussion that have led to the Religion Moderator's profile being long and full of guidelines.

i am quite sure they have been instrumental, with Rome being exposed and RC reasoning effectively nuking the NT church, while arguments themselves usually do not convert souls.

[ravenwolf]

Isn’t that typical. I would suggest you have never heard that stated other than as an accusation by someone.

---

Oh you do, do you. Bears will be Bears....

[NKP_Vet]

“Not made by clueless protestants that have no business at all replying to a Catholic thread”

There are clueless Catholics as well as clueless Protestants. Feel better now?

[NKP_Vet]

Is this hard for you to understand?

“They have no more wine”.

Was she telling him it was time get out of dodge before they all got drunk, or was she telling him they needed more wine?

[NKP_Vet]

“But if a Mormon posted “9 Ways to Restore All Things in Christ” both Prots and RCs would open up on them, with the latter having a double standard”

Wrong. I would ignore them. I could care less how many different ways Mormans or Protestants worship Christ. I concern myself with Catholics.

By the way Catholics never belittle or challenge beliefs from protestants. The reason? Protestants never post any religion threads. 99% of the time it’s Catholics posting threads. I guess protestants can’t find much to talk about, other than slamming Catholics for their beliefs. If protestants are so proud of whatever protestant faith they might have why are there so few religion threads pertaining to protestant faiths?

[GeronL]

By the way Catholics never belittle or challenge beliefs from protestants

hahaha

[Lonely Bull]

nd since the posts dealt with aspects of that original source, and remarks by RCs, then such cannot be considered "off-topic." I do not see Climate Change entering in.

I didn't elaborate in my last post because I considered my last post long enough (and skating on the edge of being on-topic itself), but there are other components to what I'd consider on-topic or off-topic. For example, sometimes the tone of a discussion makes a difference, especially over time.

But if a Mormon posted "9 Ways to Restore All Things in Christ" both Prots and RCs would open up on them, with the latter having a double standard.

I can see something like that happening.

(I also suspect that a Protestant "9 Ways..." that was an "open" thread could probably involve a similar dynamic to this thread.)

If claims are made then they are subject to challenge and refutation, as shown by God's grace.

What is called an "open" thread around here likely will be, even though sometimes the work of God's grace may be more subtle than what the participants may think.

i am quite sure they have been instrumental, with Rome being exposed and RC reasoning effectively nuking the NT church, while arguments themselves usually do not convert souls.

I tend to believe that every side's probably played its part in making this forum what it is today.

[metmom]

On the opposite side of the isle a man is boasting that he can do anything he wants and still be saved, so I like to stay away from that.

And again, for the who knows how many time, anyone who talks like that or thinks like that is not saved.

No one who is saved, who has the mind of Christ and the Holy Spirit swelling in them, would ever think that way about sin.

That whole argument is a strawman that is used by those who believe in works based salvation to try to discredit salvation by grace through faith and the security of the believer.

Sadly, many people have fallen for it.

[metmom]

I am surprised that you have not heard it, I have heard it many times, no examples because it would just be hear say.

You've heard believers say that yourself?

Or others CLAIM that believers say that?

[GeronL]

maybe you need to find a better island.

/s

[metmom]

....the Holy Spirit dwelling in them.....

[Alex Murphy]

I would ignore them. I could care less how many different ways Mormans or Protestants worship Christ. I concern myself with Catholics. By the way Catholics never belittle or challenge beliefs from protestants.

Oh good - I get to dust off the "Another Fine Example Of Catholics Never Posting Threads Denigrating Others" ping!

[Elsie]

Like the book of Genesis, the book of Luke is allegorical...

---

Luke 1:1-4

Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word.

With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

[Elsie]

We SURE don't want a bunch of crying rocks around!!

[Elsie]

The poster who 'turns the other cheek' wins every single time."

---

Matthew 23

 

  1.  Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples:
  2.  "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.
  3.  So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.
  4.  They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
  5.  "Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries  wide and the tassels on their garments long;
  6.  they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues;
  7.  they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them `Rabbi.'
  8.  "But you are not to be called `Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers.
  9.  And do not call anyone on earth `father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.
 10.  Nor are you to be called `teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the Christ.
 11.  The greatest among you will be your servant.
 12.  For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
 13.  "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. 
 14.  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. 
 15.   "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are. 
 16.  "Woe to you, blind guides! You say, `If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.'
 17.  You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred?
 18.  You also say, `If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.'
 19.  You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?
 20.  Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.
 21.  And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it.
 22.  And he who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on it.
 23.  "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.
 24.  You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
 25.  "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
 26.  Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
 27.  "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!  You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean.
 28.  In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
 29.  "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous.
 30.  And you say, `If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.'
 31.  So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.
 32.  Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers!
 33.  "You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?
 34.  Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town.
 35.  And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
 36.  I tell you the truth, all this will come upon this generation.
 37.  "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.
 38.  Look, your house is left to you desolate.
 39.  For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, `Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.' "

[Elsie]

May we who have been planted by God cleave to the Lord with purpose of heart, and warn the lost of their error and end.

Rebuke is a HARD thing for most of us to take; yet; it is necessary.

[Elsie]

And then he did EXACTLY what his mother told him to do.

Which was what?

My computer has trouble with the Invisible Font.

---

John 2 Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)

1 And the third day, there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee: and the mother of Jesus was there.

² And Jesus also was invited, and his disciples, to the marriage.

³ And the wine failing, the mother of Jesus saith to him: They have no wine.

⁴ And Jesus saith to her: Woman, what is that to me and to thee? my hour is not yet come.

⁵ His mother saith to the waiters: Whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye.

⁶ Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three measures apiece.

⁷ Jesus saith to them: Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.

⁸ And Jesus saith to them: Draw out now, and carry to the chief steward of the feast. And they carried it.

⁹ And when the chief steward had tasted the water made wine, and knew not whence it was, but the waiters knew who had drawn the water; the chief steward calleth the bridegroom,

¹⁰ And saith to him: Every man at first setteth forth good wine, and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse. But thou hast kept the good wine until now.

¹¹ This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee; and manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him.

[Elsie]

ouch!