Jesus not found outside the Church, Pope preaches

Catholic News Agency ^ | 04/23/13 | Estefania Aguirre

[Brian Kopp DPM]

Jesus not found outside the Church, Pope preaches :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/jesus-not-found-outside-the-church-pope-preaches/

April 23, 2013

Pope Francis celebrates Mass in St. John Lateran on March 29, 2013. Credit: Stephen Driscoll/CNA.

Vatican City, Apr 23, 2013 / 07:39 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis said that people cannot be fully united to Jesus outside of the Church during a Mass to commemorate Saint George, the saint he is named after.

“You cannot find Jesus outside the Church,” he said April 23 in the Apostolic Palace’s Pauline Chapel.

“It is the Mother Church who gives us Jesus, who gives us the identity that is not only a seal, it is a belonging,” he declared in his homily.

The pontiff spoke about Christian identity as well as persecution, making it the sixth time in two weeks he has mentioned those who suffer for the faith.

Speaking about the Gospel reading for today from Saint John, Pope Francis underscored that “the missionary expansion of the Church began precisely at a time of persecution.”

“They had this apostolic fervor within them, and that is how the faith spread!” he exclaimed.

It was through the Holy Spirit’s initiative that the Gospel was proclaimed to the Gentiles, the Pope noted, and the Spirit “pushes more and more in this direction of opening the proclamation of the Gospel to all.”

The pontiff also repeated a line from his April 17 homily in St. Martha’s residence, when he emphasized that being a Christian is not like having “an identity card.”

“Christian identity is belonging to the Church, because all of these (the apostles) belonged to the Church, the Mother Church, because finding Jesus outside the Church is impossible,” he said.

“The great Paul VI said it is an absurd dichotomy to want to live with Jesus but without the Church, following Jesus out of the Church, loving Jesus without the Church,” he added.

Pope Francis said that “if we are not sheep of Jesus, faith does not come” and that it is “a rosewater faith and a faith without substance.”

The Pope also commented on Barnabas, who was sent to Antioch and was glad to see that the grace of God had encouraged people there to remain true disciples.

“Let us think of the consolations that Barnabas had, which is the sweet and comforting joy of evangelizing,” he preached.

“Let us ask the Lord for this frankness, this apostolic fervor that impels us to move forward, as brothers, all of us forward,” he remarked.

After the Mass in the papal chapel, the Swiss Guard band offered a brief musical performance in the Courtyard of Saint Damaso for the Pope’s name day.

[Greetings_Puny_Humans]

““You cannot find Jesus outside the Church,” he said April 23 in the Apostolic Palace’s Pauline Chapel.”

---

Good, because it’s God who finds us:

Joh_15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

Joh 6:64-65 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. (65) And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.

Mat 16:16-17 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. (17) And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

How do you find someone who reveals Himself to you? How do you “find” Christ when Christ chose you? How do you find Christ when God drew you in to Himself to begin with? It’s all backwards, putting the horse in front of the cart.

[Salvation]

Thank you for your condolences. He had lived 100 years, so I’m sure he was ready to see God.

But this estate stuff is bbaadd.

Guess I will just have to pray for my sister.

And I am feeling mean when I say, “I want to see it in writing.”

Go figure.

Anyway, thanks for your thoughts and care.

[Greetings_Puny_Humans]

““Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven” Mat 7:21

It is not that easy.”

---

Key words: “And then will I profess unto them, I NEVER KNEW YOU: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matt 7:23).

It’s not “I used to know you,” or “I knew you until you made yourself unknown to me.” It’s straight out “I never knew you” to those who said “Lord, Lord.”

Christ knows who are His:

Joh 10:26-30 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. (27) My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: (28) And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. (29) My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. (30) I and my Father are one.

Not only does Christ say that He knows His sheep, He says that the Father gave the sheep to Him. He does it again, here:

Joh 6:43-44 Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. (44) No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

No man can come to Him except those drawn by the Father. He further declares that those who belong to Him, He ordains that they may produce fruit, and that their fruit should remain:

Joh_15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

And they are not chosen because God foresaw their works, but rather according to His own purpose and grace:

2Ti_1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

[Jay Redhawk]

I think it is time for another drawn out Civil War thread so we can come to hate each other even more. (SARCASM)

FOLKS WE ARE BEING PLAYED! THERE ARE PROVOCATEURS ON EVERY THREAD TRYING TO DIVIDE US AND THEY ARE WINNING! I HAVE FALLEN PREY TO IT IN THE PAST AND THAT IS WHAT IS GOING ON HERE! WHY NOT FOCUS ON THAT SATANIC BASTARD IN THE WHITE HOUSE INSTEAD OF EATING EACH OTHER UP?

[pax_et_bonum]

I think it is time for another drawn out Civil War thread so we can come to hate each other even more. (SARCASM)

Can I play Scarlet? She was Catholic.

;-)

(ducking and running)

[knarf]

This all started because with pomp and grandeur Francis was posted as having made a heretical statement and, being FReepers, are we to sit back and at least not discuss AND argue the point ?

[CynicalBear]

Are you telling me that when you say “Catholic Church” you do not mean the “Roman Catholic Church”? Is your “Catholic Church” not affiliated with the “Roman Catholic Church”? Yes or no?

[iseeit]

I appreciate your passionate defense of the Catholic faith. I personally choose to assume a different perspective regarding the meaning of ‘church’. I align myself with Pope John Paul II who expressed:
“This affirmation of the Savior’s “uniqueness” derives from the Lord’s own words. He stated that he came “to give his own life in ransom for the many” (Mk 10:45), that is, for humanity, as St. Paul explains when he writes: “One died for all” (2 Cor 5:14; cf. Rom 5:18). Christ won universal salvation with the gift of his own life. No other mediator has been established by God as Savior. The unique value of the sacrifice of the cross must always be acknowledged in the destiny of every man. … For those, however, who have not received the Gospel proclamation, as I wrote in the Encyclical Redemptoris Missio, salvation is accessible in mysterious ways, inasmuch as divine grace is granted to them by virtue of Christ’s redeeming sacrifice, without external membership in the Church, but nonetheless always in relation to her (cf. RM 10). It is a mysterious relationship. It is mysterious for those who receive the grace, because they do not know the Church and sometimes even outwardly reject her. ... In order to take effect, saving grace requires acceptance, cooperation, a yes to the divine gift. This acceptance is, at least implicitly, oriented to Christ and the Church. ... Religions can exercise a positive influence on the destiny of those who belong to them and follow their guidance in a sincere spirit. ... The Church does not exist nor does she work for herself, but is at the service of a humanity called to divine sonship in Christ (cf. RM 19). She thus exercises an implicit mediation also with regard to those who do not know the Gospel.” (All Salvation Comes through Christ; General Audience — May 31, 1995)
Myself, as a person struggling to become a devout Catholic, cannot feel peace in my soul while holding the view that our Lords mercy is restricted solely for those who are Catholic. I believe that our God is much, much greater than that.

[Iscool]

Anyone who is validly baptized is baptized into the Church. Therefore they can attain salvation. I know how Catholics who lose the state of Grace they receive in baptism by mortal sin can be returned to a state of Grace. That is through sacramental confession. I do not know how non-Catholics who fall from the state of grace through mortal sin can return to a state of grace outside of the means Christ instituted in scripture, i.e., sacrental confession. I do know that those who die not in a state of grace cannot attain heaven so I do fear for the salvation of those outside the Catholic (and Orthodox) communion who commit grave sin.

This is pure ignorance of scripture...And it is so ignorant, hundreds of millions of Christians have found Jesus Christ in spite of the Catholic religion...Countless former Catholics as well have searched and found the truth of the scriptures...

Christians are not under the bondage of any religion, including yours...

[Iscool]

it is not 'either or'. It is 'both and' You need to read Scripture in totality. You cannot just pick out those verses that support your man-made beliefs.

This has been the position of the Catholic religion since day one...I have yet to see a Catholic who can discuss the scriptures outside of the published talking points of the handful of scriptures put out by your religion...

[Resolute Conservative]

Research? I found what I needed long ago and have a relationship with my Father and His Word.

[Iscool]

The Mass is the unbloody remembrance of Christ’s sacrifice for us.

So the wine doesn't turn into blood then...

[Iscool]

And when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

The entire Catholic Eucharist is illegitimate...Not only do they not provide the cup of wine for the parisheners to drink, they pass out a wafer, a cookie, a biscuit...

The whole point of the communion is to 'break bread'...To break the bread, not to hand out something that dissolves on your tongue that you are not allowed to handle...

We are to break bread to remind us of Jesus Christ's broken body given on the Cross...Without the broken bread, the communion is worthless...

[Iscool]

And when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

The entire Catholic Eucharist is illegitimate...Not only do they not provide the cup of wine for the parisheners to drink, they pass out a wafer, a cookie, a biscuit...

The whole point of the communion is to 'break bread'...To break the bread, not to hand out something that dissolves on your tongue that you are not allowed to handle...

We are to break bread to remind us of Jesus Christ's broken body given on the Cross...Without the broken bread, the communion is worthless...

[Iscool]

“And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Mat 6:18

Nope...Doesn't make good English, or Greek...I have a feeling Jesus passed all of his Greek classes...Your guys built an entire religion on the perversion of that one verse...

We have a bible full of rocks...We KNOW who the rock is...

And how do you know the gates of Hell are not prevailing against your religion right now...Because your unbiblical, unGodly 'holy father' tells you so???

2Co 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 2Co 11:15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

[Iscool]

The Sins of the Holy Spirit involve denying the truth as taught by the Holy Spirit.

You gotta quit believing those Chinese fortune cookies...They're not real...

[Iscool]

I just had a dad die.

My condolences...I have suffered thru that as well...And my Mother...And a sister...

I have asked God to comfort you thru these hard times...And, they are hard...

[Gamecock]

So all non Christians go to hell then.....

Except the Muslims. Rome has a special bond with them.

[svcw]

I do not disagree.
My point was what the verse says not that somehow a cracker becomes the flesh of Christ and the wine the blood......it is a remembrance not a literal.

[Just mythoughts]

Dear GGpa... I am a Mrs.... a mere commoner in the flesh body on God's green earth. This is not a complaint, rather the reality of my existence. However, I fully identify with Christ's WORDS of being in this world but not of this world.

I also know that the Heavenly Father will use whomever He elects to fulfill His plan, any church claims notwithstanding. He did elect a farm animal to stop that preacher for hire from going about his daily business.(I use to work with and for lawyers and that legal language in part has stuck with me.)

I agree that it is love for the Heavenly Father, that created all souls, who is not a respecter of persons does get demonstrated in how we live our earthly journey. On this thread I am not reading a love of the Creator, I am reading a complete worship of a man and his appointed position in this earthly realm.

It is as if we have entered that period wherein the analogy of the sting of the scorpion has made flesh minds and spines mush.