Posted on 05/18/2018 7:48:24 AM PDT by Salvation
The true Church is the Catholic Church founded by Jesus Christ on the Apostles, the First Bishops.
Exactly right. We can use one metaphor one day, and other on another day, and a third a week from Tuesday, because they're metaphors!
St. Paul compared the Church to "God's field" and "God's building" in the same sentence.
There are many cruise ships and no battleships so I say neither.
Churches are not rest homes for saints; Churches are hospitals for sinners.
The first Church is The One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, which today is The Orthodox Church.
The Roman Catholic Church broke from The One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church and later the Church of England broke from the Roman Catholic Church.
The Orthodox Church has continued unchanged since Pentecost.
A letter by St Boniface
The careful shepherd watches over Christ’s flock
In her voyage across the ocean of this world, the Church is like a great ship being pounded by the waves of life’s different stresses. Our duty is not to abandon ship but to keep her on her course.
The ancient fathers showed us how we should carry out this duty: Clement, Cornelius and many others in the city of Rome, Cyprian at Carthage, Athanasius at Alexandria. They all lived under emperors who were pagans; they all steered Christ’s ship – or rather his most dear spouse, the Church. This they did by teaching and defending her, by their labours and sufferings, even to the shedding of blood.
I am terrified when I think of all this. Fear and trembling came upon me and the darkness of my sins almost covered me. I would gladly give up the task of guiding the Church which I have accepted if I could find such an action warranted by the example of the fathers or by holy Scripture.
Since this is the case, and since the truth can be assaulted but never defeated or falsified, with our tired mind let us turn to the words of Solomon: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own prudence. Think on him in all your ways, and he will guide your steps. In another place he says: The name of the Lord is an impregnable tower. The just man seeks refuge in it and he will be saved.
Let us stand fast in what is right and prepare our souls for trial. Let us wait upon God’s strengthening aid and say to him: O Lord, you have been our refuge in all generations.
Let us trust in him who has placed this burden upon us. What we ourselves cannot bear let us bear with the help of Christ. For he is all-powerful and he tells us: My yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Let us continue the fight on the day of the Lord. The days of anguish and of tribulation have overtaken us; if God so wills, let us die for the holy laws of our fathers, so that we may deserve to obtain an eternal inheritance with them.
Let us be neither dogs that do not bark nor silent onlookers nor paid servants who run away before the wolf. Instead let us be careful shepherds watching over Christ’s flock. Let us preach the whole of God’s plan to the powerful and to the humble, to rich and to poor, to men of every rank and age, as far as God gives us the strength, in season and out of season, as Saint Gregory writes in his book of Pastoral Instruction.
+1
Not really. The GOANSA website admits flatly that permitting artificial birth control is a moral innovation, one with which they're apparently fine. That's only one example. Divorce and remarriage is another. There are more.
Check #11 under battleship.
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingly power:
2proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching.b
3For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity,* will accumulate teachers
4and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to myths.d
5But you, be self-possessed in all circumstances; put up with hardship; perform the work of an evangelist; fulfill your ministry.
2 TIMOTHY 4
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