Posted on 09/28/2005 4:44:24 PM PDT by NYer
Praying for you, AB. Your withdrawal is noble.
After we strangle them with our Rosary beads and offer them up to a statue of the Virgin Mary.
Just don't tell them that the candles aren't really made out of bees wax but out of ground up of the older Protestants, we only eat the young ones as they are more tender....
And I notice that you conveniently skipped over Galatians.
Gal. 5:4 - Paul teaches that we can be in Christ, then be severed from Him and fall away from God's grace. You cannot be severed from something unless you were previously connected to it.
No, it couldn't be, because our bad deeds are gone when we repent: "As far as the East is from the West, so far does He remove our transgressions from us." And our good works aren't really "ours" in the ownership sense, but were "prepared for us in advance, that we should walk in them."
In the end, it comes down to whether our soul is alive or dead ... whether God's life, "sanctifying grace," is in us, or not. The parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15) is illustrative. The father says, "This my son was lost, but now he is found; he was dead, but now he is alive. How? Through repentance, and the mercy of the Father.
If there was a monastary or convent around here that offered what I was looking for, I would have found it.
I am, after all, in the Diocese of Rockville Centre (Long Island), so...there's not too much for such as me.
I just feel sorry for the kids. There's just no way they can be steeped in the Catholic faith like I was as a child when the Church itself won't cooperate with me. I'm trying my best to teach them about our religion the way I learned it, but I sometimes have to REALLY go to the mat on things (like having my boys taught that receiving Holy Communion on the tongue is perfectly OK).
So I keep going to Mass, and I keep trying to put out of my mind all the nonsense that goes on during the service and TRY to concentrate on what's really important....but it gets harder and harder every year.
Fact is, I'm barely hanging on by the skin of my teeth.
Pray for me, please. I could use it.
Regards,
1:17? St. Paul, preaching to the baptised says he was not sent to baptise. I see no problem or conflict here.
>>Just don't tell them that the candles aren't really made out of bees wax but out of ground up of the older Protestants, we only eat the young ones as they are more tender....<<
Shhhhh. That's going too far into our deepest darkest secrets!
The Pope is listening on your mercury fillings.
read his next post. (the one after the first one) he was looking for a fight.
I have heard some Protestants redefine what Sola Scriptura is, but never the above. But I'll take your word on that for now, as that is not our current issue.
Most of the mainline Protestant denominations rely on creeds, Confessions, and catechisms that have been handed down through many centuries. These are not whimsical interpretations, but precepts that have been debated and discerned throughout the ages (much akin to the RC church).
OK, so some Protestants rely on Tradition. However, what is the SOURCE of this tradition? It is men like Luther and Calvin, men who interpreted the Sciptures out of line with the Traditions of their Fathers in Faith. Thus, eventually, you must posit your faith on the interpretations of a private person, and sadly, at odds with what came before for 1500 years or more (such as the Eucharist)
It has ALWAYS been the accepted idea that Christ would guide His Church into truth - that the Spirit would guide them when they came together and defined the faith. For example, Acts 15:28 - "...and it seemed good to us AND THE SPIRIT". Ephesians 2 says that the Church is built on the foundation of the Apostles and prophets - meaning that we rely on their accurate passing down of the teachings of God, whether they be from the OT or directly from Christ in the NT. God is guaranteeing us men that the faith we have received is accurate. God doesn't protect Church men from sin, but He does protect His Church from error - the Church is the pillar and foundation of the truth. If we can't trust the Apostles and their successors, HOW DO WE KNOW WE HAVE GOD'S WORD IN THE BIBLE???
That is one of the many questions where I had to answer - either I would be Catholic, or not Christian at all. You either trust these men who gave us the Scriptures and oral teachings from Christ, or you don't - and then the Bible can't be trusted either. That is the inexorable conclusion that comes from refusing to become Catholic.
Brother in Christ
Why? Whatever would give you that idea, LOL :D
Now that you have baited the hook, better dip it in.
I thought the listening device was in the rosary beads.
K
Have you tried an Eastern Rite Church?
forget it.
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