Posted on 07/22/2006 7:06:59 AM PDT by NYer
Aw dang, Jeff, you caught us red-handed!Trying to Hook More Youths on Priesthood
In this era of Eminem and Britney Spears, of sexy sitcoms and sexier commercials, of high-speed Internet and instant gratification, a life of celibacy devoted to God can be a hard sell to a teenager.
So as the nation's Roman Catholic leaders gathered recently and watched a video called "Fishers of Men," designed to draw young men to the priesthood, they had good reason to worry about the future of their chosen way of life.
Church leaders have long been aware of the statistics. There are now about 43,000 Catholic priests in America, down from more than 58,000 in 1965. As the U.S. Catholic population has risen to about 70 million, more churches have had to share priests.
What receives less attention is that the men who go into the seminary generally don't do so until later in life. The average age of newly ordained priests was 36 last year, up from 28 in the 1960s and 26 in the 1940s.
...
Observers of vocational trends say more effort is needed now because of smaller families, with parents who want grandchildren; a secularized culture wary of lifetime commitment and celibacy; Catholic assimilation in America; and increased family mobility, which detracts from parish loyalties. [More...]
Dear neocon,
Our "Scripture scholar" denies to the Apostle, St. Paul, the office of bishop.
* chuckle *
It must be in that letter that St. Timothy wrote called the "Book of Timothy."
LOL.
sitetest
The bible goes farther than that in defining a minister of the gospel. He should be married to one woman and not divorced, and he should have control over his family.
Given the reputation of the Catholic Church I find it amazing that it's growing.
No. And I even corrected myself.
I know what first Corinthians says. Its not talking about the qualifications to be a bishop.
Why can't all of you good Catholics get on the same page?
Dear AnAmericanMother,
Include me in your intentions when you pray the Rosary!
Good night.
sitetest
The same page of what? The letter the Corinthians wrote to Paul? LOL
So in the context of this thread that marriage of the priesthood was a heresy?
What books?
Dear marajade,
Actually, Muslims believe that God authored the Koran. Directly.
Christians believe that human beings wrote the Bible, inerrantly inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Thus, St. Paul, celibate Apostle and Bishop, wrote the first epistle to St. Timothy.
It's actually in the Word.
Oh, but I forgot, you don't care who wrote it. Right?
sitetest
Chuckle chuckle... God wrote the book of timothy. What do you believe?
I understand where you are coming from with that. I believe when a responsible person willingly engages in the act that could bring forth children they have accepted that risk and responsibility. When someone has been forced to engage in that act then their liberty and right to choose has been violated. That then goes to where I believe they should have an option based on their circumstances of whether to continue through the pregnancy. I believe many could emotionally deal with the pregnancy but some couldn't and if they have a husband he might not be able to. But like i said even then it needs to be prayerfully considered and not just terminated. I guess the question could be asked of why she must keep reliving the rape? Terrible stuff and not an easy answer from me, that's for sure! But thanks for listening!!
Throw stones. You get the gist of what I'm saying and so does God.
Thankfully, my soul rests upon the judgment of God and God knows my heart.
Yeah. Where in First Corinthians does it say that priests should be celibate?
LOL
The most frustrating thing about trying to converse with so many people these days is that the never learned how to think. Once that is understood, however, what to think has a way of taking care of itself. :-)
"Christians believe that human beings wrote the Bible, inerrantly inspired by the Holy Spirit."
I believe that God wrote the Word.
What was this crap about Muslims and why did you introduce that?
Dear marajade,
"God wrote the book of timothy."
Well, I'm not sure who wrote something called "the book of timothy," but I know that St. Paul wrote the first epistle to St. Timothy, inspired by God.
Otherwise, the epistle lies. After all, the first verse of the epistle is:
"1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,
2 to Timothy, my true child in faith: grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord."
Do you see what it says? It says Paul is writing to Timothy. He refers to Timothy as his true child in faith, and wishes him grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus, our Lord. It doesn't say that God is writing it.
Obviously, if God were directly writing this, it would say, "God, Father Almighty, to Timothy, My son by adoption through Christ Jesus: grace, mercy, and peace from Me through My Son, Christ Jesus, your Lord."
By claiming direct authorship from God, you make Scriptures lie.
sitetest
God knows you're pro-abortion too.
Laugh all you want. Where in Corinthians does it say priests should be celibate?
Nope. As I am sure has been mentioned on this thread, the celibacy of most priests in the Latin rite of the Catholic Church (as well as all of the bishops in all of the rites of the Church) is a not an issue of faith and morals, but discipline.
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