Posted on 10/17/2010 11:05:17 AM PDT by narses
The Holy Ghost is God and the third Person of the Blessed Trinity.
The Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son.
But when the Advocate has come, whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness concerning me. (John 15:26)
The Holy Ghost is equal to the Father and the Son, because He is God.
The Holy Ghost dwells in the Church as the source of its life and sanctifies souls through the gift of grace.
Guard the good trust through the Holy Ghost, who dwells in us. (II Timothy 1:14)
Grace is a supernatural gift of God bestowed on us through the merits of Jesus Christ for our salvation.
And of his fullness we have all received, grace for grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:16-17)
There are two kinds of grace: sanctifying grace and actual grace.
Sanctifying grace is that grace which confers on our souls a new life, that is, a sharing in the life of God Himself.
But to as many as received him he gave the power of becoming sons of God. (John 1:12)
The chief effects of sanctifying grace are:
Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him. (John 14:23)
Actual grace is a supernatural help of God which enlightens our mind and strengthens our will to do good and to avoid evil.
For it is God who of his good pleasure works in you both the will and the performance. (Philippians 2:13)
We can resist the grace of God, for our will is free, and God does not force us to accept His grace.
Jerusalem, Jerusalem! How often I would have gathered thy children together, as a hen gathers her young under her wings, but thou wouldst not! (Matthew 23:37)
Sanctifying grace is necessary for salvation because it is the supernatural life, which alone enables us to attain the supernatural happiness of heaven.
Actual grace is necessary for all who have attained the use of reason, because without it we cannot long resist the power of temptation or perform other actions which merit a reward in heaven.
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything, as from ourselves but our sufficiency is from God. (II Corinthians 3:5)
The principal ways of obtaining grace are prayer and the sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist.
For we were buried with him by means of Baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ has arisen from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we may also walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4)
We can make our most ordinary actions merit a heavenly reward by doing them for the love of God and by keeping ourselves in the state of grace.
Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or do anything else, do all for the glory of God. (I Corinthians 10:31)
Is the Baltimore Catechism a good thing, or a bad thing?
I’ve seen so many people roundly criticized for citing it, you’ll just have to pardon this southern Protestant’s very evident confusion.
Oh, God. Just reading these bring back horrible memories of crazed mothers hitting children for forgetting #107 and bad-tempered nuns chasing you around the classroom for getting #108 wrong. I need a drink!
The Father of Lies loves to confuse the Flock. Me, my wife and all of our children learned about our faith through the Baltimore catechism. It is NOT the whole Deposit of the Faith, it is a primer. For what it is intended to do, it is a very good thing. If used to harm others, it becomes (like anything else misused) a bad thing.
Tuesday nights at our kitchen table! (Monday being Catechism class.) Drinking in moderation is a good thing.
I look at the questions and answers and realize why I could never memorize it. It was just beyond my mental capability - not because I was dumb (well, ok, maybe I WAS dumb) but because it is a very difficult, very abstract religion. It must be almost impossible for most children to understand.
Me and mine have no trouble at all with it. What is an example of one you struggle with?
I was talking about when I was a little girl. I must admit I still don’t get it; but that’s a lapsed Catholic for you, lol!
No doubt you think you have a point. A “catechism” is simply a summary or exposition of doctrine, traditionally used in Christian religious teaching from New Testament times to the present. The original word was “katecheo” - if you have a Strong’s Concordance look it up.
Since this Catechism TEACHES a simple set of lessons drawn from The Word, what is it you object to? Teachers?
Adults see the world differently. Have you followed any of these posts? You might try again. There is great beauty in the Tapestry of Faith we have been given.
...what is it you object to? Teachers?
Yawn. And “The Church” IS the Mystical Body of Christ. You really need to buy a good, basic education in Christianity.
Get your nose in THE WORD day and night. But get HS filled first.
Believers are His Church/His Body and Jesus is The Head.
You want to know the things of God - you go to His Word. You don’t go to man. Man deceives.
Romans 3:4 “May God’s Word be true and everyman a liar”
It doesn’t matter what you or I think - it’s HIS KINGDOM, HIS Heaven, His Rules.
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