i hope i don't offend anyoneok so... i came across this article.
i've been thinking a lot about this. 1. i hope and pray that i am not a Cafeteria Catholic. that is to say, according to the post and as i understand it so you, some of my non-Catholic audience can understand, a "pick and choose" Christian. yet, that leads into my next point. 2. now, i don't want to be uncharitable by any means, so i don't want to bash anyone's church or beliefs or whatever... but the more i think about it and the more God works with me and the more i've pursued my Christian faith... well it was His Catholic Church who was the most responsive to my needs and my growth in Christ. i don't want to make this about me though, as that's exactly what the linked blog talks about... but so often i see my protestant brothers and sisters struggling, hurting and i think... is part of their spiritual sickness due to the fact that they are not Catholic... that they aren't a faithful, practicing Catholic? i'm not saying that God can't or won't work amazing thing in a non-Catholic's life. i do take some comfort in the fact that when protestant "beat the Bible" so to speak that they are in fact in directly seeking Christ through His Church (questions about this? ask me). yet, how much more is God willing to help you if you submit to the fullness of His plans through His Holy Church? it leads me to believe that is protestants (some, not all) who are in fact the pick and choosers. they limit God by binding Him into the pages of the Bible. a dear dear friend of mine told me recently that he just wanted to be the best Christian he can. i sooooooo wanted to tell him that if he just gave Catholicism a real shot, his spiritual growth would be amplified more than he could ever imagined. now, i'm not saying that Catholics are the best Christians. we're all still broken people...yet, the Catholic Church is Christ's Chruch, and there's even Biblical support of that, for those who don't believe me (matthew 16:18-19). granted, i've only asked one person, that same friend, what he makes of those verses, to which he replied he didn't know. i imagine that if i were to ask Cru staff members or other highly respected protestants about those passages that they might try to point out other things that Christ teaches, that are more important. and i understand that. it'd be like me at the buffet mentioned in postand i might have something on my plate. so i go and ask another who is there and they recommend something else... or they more than recommend, but they do exactly what the post indicates not to do, or accuses "cafeteria catholics" of doing: going back to the line and getting the same thing. idk how many times i've been told the same verses over and over again. and it's not just about the Bible either... there's soooooooo much that protestants don't even know about that we faithful Catholics engage in for the betterment of our relationship with Christ. i mean, the idea of protestantism and even puritanism is that they thought the Catholic Church was getting too inclusive, and that they had to purify Her... when it really is a banquest that God offers us. He offers us so much more than the Bible itself (ironically the Bible doesn't even offer itself)... i know i just went on a big rant just now, but i'll end with this short prayer
May we as those who Love You, Lord, not buy into the Fast Food diet that offers us quick pleasures but leaves us with regreat. May we not purchase the Starvation diet that only appears holy and good and right but leaves us sick and dead and preoccupied with ourselves. May we approach the Banquet with a simple plate, humbly accept what we can fit and enjoy it, and regularly go back for the next course. May this prayer, these words that some may only skim and some may never read be true for all aspects of our life, our worship, our spirituality, our religion, and our relationship with you. in the Name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Saturday, April 17, 2010
and there i have it.
so, i really wasn't sure if i had much to say on this blog as opposed to my other one, as this one is intended to be essentially my Catholic blog. well, for the past hour or so, i've been writing up an apologetics message to some woman i don't even know and it just clicked that i ought to post it here.
the set up is that, while i was commenting on another topic, i also wished to address a point that was made about biblical inconsistancies. here's what i came up with:
i agree that the Bible seems to have what seem to be contradictions. however, i believe the Bible to be the most internally consistant piece of literature available (meaning that it doesn't contradict itself. the New Testament fulfills the Old) however still, it's when people begin to read the same passages different ways, as what we see here, and we have 38,000+ "versions of Truth" out there where, regardless of translation, it becomes up to the pastor to decide what's True or not. therefore, in the Gospel according to St Matthew (16:18), Jesus Christ gives us a Church to be our guide by naming Peter the rock on which He builds said Church: the Catholic Church. Jesus promises that the gates of hell will not prevail against it. part of what the Catholic Church teaches to it's members is obediance. now, i'm newly getting into this topic myself, but one thing i do know about obediance is that it is a step of faith. it's a huge step of faith. however, because it's faith, we know that when we are obediant, it is not the servant that is to blame if he or she is wrong, but the master. furthermore, because Christ assured us that the gates of hell will not prevail over the Catholic Church, that same verse tells us that if we do obey God and His Church, He will protect us from hell. now, it wasn't my goal to talk about this in as much detail as i did, but if you're problem with the Catholic Church is that you didn't get to pick who the pastor was, i'd ask you, what makes you think that you know what makes for a godly leader, before you were told what one was by your pastor or before you read about it from somewhere? let's just keep the order here. let's keep Church history in mind here. Jesus picked Peter to be the first Pope and assured him that whatever he bound on earth would be bound in Heaven and whatever he loosed on earth would be loosed in Heaven. from there, Apostolic Succession in the Pope was established, and so we can say that not only did God give us our Catholic Church, but we can also say that God picks our leaders, and we should put our faith in them through obediance, pray for them that they themselves will not fall to sin and corruption (which unfortunately does happen as our priests are still fallen breatures), but yet take comfort in the fact that our obediance will be rewarded. to be honest, in my experience, priests do live up to the expectations of the community to be the spiritual direction needed, so it's not like all priests would intentionally lead their flock astray. yet, even though Catholic seminaries are becoming better and better at educating and growing potential priests and even weeding out those that should not be priests, some "bad" ones make it through. regardless, the Holiness of the Church, while made up of unholy people, does not depend on their holiness. the Catholic Church is Holy because God is Holy. again, it's the Church that He gave us. the point that i wanted to make through all of this, though, is that the Catholic Church will never teach anything that contradicts Scripture and Scripture never contradicts Catholic Church teaching.
is that to say then that the Church teachings things that aren't in the Bible? yes. however, the problem with bible-only theology is that it's not biblical. no where in the bible does Jesus tell us that He's going to give us a Bible after He leaves and we're to follow it to the letter. He does however give us the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, the Helper, and again, He gives us a Church, the Holy Catholic Church. the Bible is the product of the Spirit working in conjunction with the early (Catholic) Church to put together all these texts. so, if you think about it that way, anyone who does believe in Jesus comes to Him by God's Grace and through the Catholic Church. and, if that's the case, why not accept what the Church teaches, even though we might not fully understand, or even disagree with some aspects of it, and become a full member of His Church and be one people as He intended?
the set up is that, while i was commenting on another topic, i also wished to address a point that was made about biblical inconsistancies. here's what i came up with:
i agree that the Bible seems to have what seem to be contradictions. however, i believe the Bible to be the most internally consistant piece of literature available (meaning that it doesn't contradict itself. the New Testament fulfills the Old) however still, it's when people begin to read the same passages different ways, as what we see here, and we have 38,000+ "versions of Truth" out there where, regardless of translation, it becomes up to the pastor to decide what's True or not. therefore, in the Gospel according to St Matthew (16:18), Jesus Christ gives us a Church to be our guide by naming Peter the rock on which He builds said Church: the Catholic Church. Jesus promises that the gates of hell will not prevail against it. part of what the Catholic Church teaches to it's members is obediance. now, i'm newly getting into this topic myself, but one thing i do know about obediance is that it is a step of faith. it's a huge step of faith. however, because it's faith, we know that when we are obediant, it is not the servant that is to blame if he or she is wrong, but the master. furthermore, because Christ assured us that the gates of hell will not prevail over the Catholic Church, that same verse tells us that if we do obey God and His Church, He will protect us from hell. now, it wasn't my goal to talk about this in as much detail as i did, but if you're problem with the Catholic Church is that you didn't get to pick who the pastor was, i'd ask you, what makes you think that you know what makes for a godly leader, before you were told what one was by your pastor or before you read about it from somewhere? let's just keep the order here. let's keep Church history in mind here. Jesus picked Peter to be the first Pope and assured him that whatever he bound on earth would be bound in Heaven and whatever he loosed on earth would be loosed in Heaven. from there, Apostolic Succession in the Pope was established, and so we can say that not only did God give us our Catholic Church, but we can also say that God picks our leaders, and we should put our faith in them through obediance, pray for them that they themselves will not fall to sin and corruption (which unfortunately does happen as our priests are still fallen breatures), but yet take comfort in the fact that our obediance will be rewarded. to be honest, in my experience, priests do live up to the expectations of the community to be the spiritual direction needed, so it's not like all priests would intentionally lead their flock astray. yet, even though Catholic seminaries are becoming better and better at educating and growing potential priests and even weeding out those that should not be priests, some "bad" ones make it through. regardless, the Holiness of the Church, while made up of unholy people, does not depend on their holiness. the Catholic Church is Holy because God is Holy. again, it's the Church that He gave us. the point that i wanted to make through all of this, though, is that the Catholic Church will never teach anything that contradicts Scripture and Scripture never contradicts Catholic Church teaching.
is that to say then that the Church teachings things that aren't in the Bible? yes. however, the problem with bible-only theology is that it's not biblical. no where in the bible does Jesus tell us that He's going to give us a Bible after He leaves and we're to follow it to the letter. He does however give us the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, the Helper, and again, He gives us a Church, the Holy Catholic Church. the Bible is the product of the Spirit working in conjunction with the early (Catholic) Church to put together all these texts. so, if you think about it that way, anyone who does believe in Jesus comes to Him by God's Grace and through the Catholic Church. and, if that's the case, why not accept what the Church teaches, even though we might not fully understand, or even disagree with some aspects of it, and become a full member of His Church and be one people as He intended?
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
First are fun
Don't have much to update currently, so I figured I'd share this beautiful article about Holy Communion. Also, flip back a few pages for a great article on contraception.
Just so you all know, I hope to make this my primary blog. I have others, but for those, you'll have to do some digging. Cheers.
Just so you all know, I hope to make this my primary blog. I have others, but for those, you'll have to do some digging. Cheers.
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