Posted on 09/22/2013 3:41:39 PM PDT by Zakeet
In recent columns in the mainstream press, columnists have been distorting gleefully the Pope's recent statements to make it appear he's the liberal that will bring the Catholic Church in line with their own agenda. (See: What the Pope really said.)
In actuality, Pope Francis is no more likely to approve gay marriage or homosexual activity than any other pope. If the media were less agenda-driven, they would be trying to debunk a miracle that defies explanation and which involves Pope Francis when he was a bishop in Argentina in 1996.
For many Christians, Holy Communion is a symbolic ritual, but Catholics believe it is in fact His divine body and blood. This sounds absolutely nuts, but it's a matter of faith. However, I had never heard about the Eucharistic miracle until a friend sent me a YouTube video explaining what it was all about.
On August 18, 1996 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, at Holy mass, a woman discovered a discarded host on a candleholder and brought it to Fr. Alejandro Pezet who placed it in a container of water inside the tabernacle of the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament. The following Monday, August 26, upon opening the tabernacle, the priest was astonished to find that the Host had become a bloody substance and he notified his Bishop Jorge Bergoglio (now Pope Francis I), who gave instructions that the bloodied flesh be photographed. When the photographs were taken on September 6, the bloodied flesh had grown significantly in size. After it had been kept in the tabernacle for a few years the Bishop decided to have it scientifically analyzed since it had not suffered any visible decomposition.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
“I didn’t think there’s anything in it that an Evangelical Christian couldn’t enthusiastically endorse or at least understand favorably”
I read the whole article. It had a number of statements that I would object to...most importantly, a failure to mention repentance prior to forgiveness.
““I mention to Pope Francis that there are Christians who live in situations that are irregular for the church or in complex situations that represent open wounds. I mention the divorced and remarried, same-sex couples and other difficult situations. What kind of pastoral work can we do in these cases? What kinds of tools can we use?
“We need to proclaim the Gospel on every street corner,” the pope says, “preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing, even with our preaching, every kind of disease and wound. In Buenos Aires I used to receive letters from homosexual persons who are ‘socially wounded’ because they tell me that they feel like the church has always condemned them. But the church does not want to do this. During the return flight from Rio de Janeiro I said that if a homosexual person is of good will and is in search of God, I am no one to judge. By saying this, I said what the catechism says. Religion has the right to express its opinion in the service of the people, but God in creation has set us free: it is not possible to interfere spiritually in the life of a person.
“A person once asked me, in a provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality. I replied with another question: ‘Tell me: when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?’ We must always consider the person. Here we enter into the mystery of the human being. In life, God accompanies persons, and we must accompany them, starting from their situation. It is necessary to accompany them with mercy. When that happens, the Holy Spirit inspires the priest to say the right thing.”
Please notice the question involved same sex couples - people living and practicing homosexual acts.
I never said I believed what I saw in the headlines, I just thought to myself. “Dude! I can launch into a ten minute tirade on how God is unlimited, and how proving anything about him, and anything that he asks of us less than having faith in him is probably wrong.” But there’s no doubt here, the forces of evil have a willing partner in the MSM. Sadly.
"The confessor, for example, is always in danger of being either too much of a rigorist or too lax. Neither is merciful, because neither of them really takes responsibility for the person. The rigorist washes his hands so that he leaves it to the commandment. The loose minister washes his hands by simply saying, ‘This is not a sin’ or something like that. In pastoral ministry we must accompany people, and we must heal their wounds."
This is what he's getting at, and I think he's right. He sees that rigorism and laxity both deviate from the path of true mercy. The rigorist says "You're wrong" and chop-chop, that's it. He's a Pharisee who won't lift a finger to help. The laxist says "You're OK, it's all good," and again, does not help the sinner to understand his sin, nor to become free of it.
The key is seeing the person, first. Not the sin, but the person. What follows is a relationship of trust, in which the sinner knows you're for him. How else can you lead him to Christ?
It is like Lanciano. I’ve seen it myself. What’s amazing to me is, this newer miracle in SA, matches the blood type and DNA of the one in Lanciano. If true, that’s just incredible.
John 4:48
“Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”
John 6:30
The people asked him, “What miracle are you going to perform so that we can see it and believe in you?
Ok; let's CONSIDER.....
Genesis 18:20-21
20. Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous
21. that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know."
Genesis 19:4-7
4. Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom--both young and old--surrounded the house.
5. They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them."
6. Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him
7. and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing.
Isaiah 3:9 The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves.
2 Peter 2:13b Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.
Ezekiel 16:49-50
49. "`Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.
50. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.
1. But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction on themselves.
2. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.
3. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
4. For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment;
5. if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others;
6. if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;
7. and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men
8. (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)--
9. if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.
10. This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority. Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings;
11. yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord.
12. But these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish.
13. They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.
But there IS hope!!!
1 Corinthians 6:9-11
9. Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived:
Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders
10. nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
11. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
If you could NOT change, you would be in most pitiful shape...
Someone ain't 100% sure...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1338543/posts
In 1999, in the presence of then Cardinal Bergoglio, Dr. Ricardo Castanon, an atheist at the time, sent the fragment to New York for analysis, but did not inform the team of scientists its origin so as not to prejudice the study. One scientist, Dr. Frederic Zugibe, a cardiologist and forensic pathologist, determined that the substance was real flesh and contained human DNA, and furthermore he concluded was a piece of heart muscle.
Yet this was only the beginning of what would be a phenomenal enigma. DNA tests on the sample showed it to be that of a male, AB positive blood type. What is extraordinary about this fact is that the DNA is the exact same match as another Eucharist 'miracle' that took place in the 8th century in Lanciano, Italy confirming that both samples came from the same person.
Ping!
I’ve shared about these Eucharistic miracles for a few years now. Here are some interesting videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PJ8BORx1p8
There are many Eucharistic miracles...though not many Catholics know about them. It might be good to share the following books:
;-)
Instead of PROTESTants, maybe we should call them PROTESTlemmings.
Yes. And?
What??!!! The Pope is Catholic?
Imagine that! :-)
Thank you for the info. Wonderful!
I don't find these miracles incredible anymore, since the evidence in favor of these very public miracles is so scientifically overwhelming.
The key is seeing the person, first. Not the sin, but the person. What follows is a relationship of trust, in which the sinner knows you're for him. How else can you lead him to Christ?
Beautifully stated.
Yeah; that'll work.
(and we'd be MUCH more like our Catholic Brethren and Cistern then; too!)
The Sign of Jonah wasn’t enough; I guess.
I may not be understanding you correctly. If so, I apologize and would like to get a better idea of what you're getting at.
I said nothing. Nothing more than what the BIBLE has said about 'miracles'.
1 Chronicles 16:12
Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced.
Nehemiah 9:17
They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked..."
Job 5:9 and Job 9:10 (repeated verbatim)
He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,miracles that cannot be counted.
Psalm 77:11
I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
Psalm 77:14
You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples.
Psalm 105:5
Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced.
Psalm 106:7
When our ancestors were in Egypt, they gave no thought to your miracles/; they did not remember your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.
Matthew 11:23
And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day.
Matthew 13:58
And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
Mark 9:39
“Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me.
Luke 10:13
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
Acts 2:22
“Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know."
I could go on, but I'll spare your eyeballs. Succinctly, the Bible teaches that God performs miracles, that He blesses us if we remember and tell each other about them and learn from them, and His wrath flares when we disregard them; He wants His miracles to turn us toward faith in His word.
I am a foe of foolish credulity. However, a Richard-Dawkins-like flicking away of miracles--- especially well-attested miracles -- will predictably result in our becoming skeptical of His power, insensitive to His work and deaf to of His Word.
Take care, Elsie.
Thanks for taking the bait and doing the work I was going to have to do; namely, showing that GOD does miracles.
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