Posted on 03/30/2010 10:38:29 AM PDT by NYer
WASHINGTON, D.C., MARCH 29, 2010 (Zenit.org).- This Easter, thousands are planning to become Catholic, including a man who almost lost his life five times.
The U.S. bishops' conference shared the story of Jeremy Feldbusch, 30, from Blairsville, Pennsylvania, who is among the thousands preparing to enter the Church Saturday evening.
Feldbusch was in the armed services in Iraq, and on April 3, 2003, he was wounded with shrapnel from the conflict, which resulted in blindness in both eyes and traumatic brain injury.
He was expected to die shortly after, or if he lived, to sustain extensive brain damage. Doctors put him into a coma with a ventilator for six weeks in order to reduce brain swelling.
The medical professionals attempted to remove the ventilator five times, but on each attempt, Feldbusch "died" and had to be resuscitated. On the sixth try, he finally regained consciousness.
The patient, who had been baptized a Methodist, asked his father, "Why did God take my eyesight?"
His father replied with a different question, "Why did God let you live?"
The bishops' conference reported that through the process of rehabilitation, Feldbusch "began to think that things happen for a reason and resolved to spend his life helping other wounded service members."
He decided to enter the Catholic Church, and will be received on Saturday, the 7th anniversary of his life-changing injury in Iraq.
Growth
The conference press release noted that thousands more will join Feldbusch, with especially high numbers of new Catholics expected in the South and Southwest regions of the United States.
The Diocese of Dallas, Texas, is preparing to receive 3,000 new Catholics. Of these, 700 are catechumens (never before baptized) and 2,300 are candidates (already validly baptized into the Christian faith, but seeking full communion with the Church).
Also in Texas, the Archdiocese of San Antonio is reporting that 1,112 people will enter the Church. A good number of these are young people, who have already reached the age of reason, including 214 child catechumens and 124 candidates.
The Diocese of Forth Worth in that same state will welcome around the same number of new Catholics.
The Archdiocese of Atlanta is preparing for 1,800 new Church members, which is the largest group ever recorded for that region, the press release reported.
On the West Coast, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, which is the largest diocese nationwide, will receive 2,400 new members.
In Seattle, 682 people will be baptized into the Church, and 479 welcomed into full communion.
The Archdiocese of Portland, Oregon, will welcome 842 new Catholics.
Other dioceses who are expecting over a thousand new members are: Detroit, Michigan (1,225); Cincinnati, Ohio (1,049); Denver, Colorado (1,102); Arlington, Virginia (1,100); Washington, D.C. (1,150).
In the Archdiocese of Washington, 18 of those preparing to enter the Church are students from St. Augustine School, the oldest African American school in the nation's capital.
The conference communiqué noted that the Catholic Church, which is the largest denomination in the United States, with over 68 million members, has shown a 1.5% increase in membership numbers this past year.
Thanks for the lesson. I vaguely recall while getting my degree in theology that this was the case. Your follow on comments are irresponsible, but they explain why you resist Paul's teaching. Clever, but sad, characteristic of the Catholic audience...first, argue that those outside the org don't get Paul right (YPIOS nonsense), then if that doesn't work, argue Paul is defective anyway, since it is not provable that it is really Paul. We have little remaining to discuss. I was beginning to expect more, Mark, but you have retreated to the broken confines of the cult mentality. This is why the Reformation was necessary...too much love of the org, not enough truth left.
If you can read Isaiah through and not realize that Jesus, the Son in the triune Godhead, is the Messiah described, you disappoint me even further. Is. 45:21 in part, "...Is it not I, the Lord? And there is no other God besides Me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none except Me." Of course the Jews rejected Jesus as part of the predetermined plan and with the foreknowledge of God (Acts 2:23ff), but my claim did not say that the Jews would recognize Him, only that He was the one that fulfilled these prophecies. And Paul clearly explains many of the ways that Jesus fit the bill in the letter to the Hebrews. You don't even address the point.
It is utterly tragic to see you refer to the "Church" like this monstrosity that is not you. Herein lies the beauty of the Gospel (and in contradistinction to Rome's perspective): You, if you are in Christ Jesus, ARE the Church. Unlike the Roman Catholic Church's claim that IT is something apart from the believers, the Scripture tells another story. "For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another." Rom. 12:4,5. But, then again, this is Paul, or maybe not, or maybe so?
But, since your remarks continue to point to the organization, rather than these claims of Scripture, you speak about confidence in the group, rather than confidence in Christ. But, the Scripture doesn't put such confidence in the group...any group. The Scriptures clearly state that we people are the Body of Christ, the Church, not some organization, not some buildings in Vatican City, not some bishops, cardinals, popes or writings of theirs. They are deluded and wrong to take such honor to themselves, modern day Pharisees. They are held captive by the devil to do his will and teach you that the "Church" is apart from you, bigger than you, more correct than you.
My hope would be that someday, you could shed the chains of the suffocating monster that holds you tight to its chest and instead embrace Jesus alone. Or more correctly, that He would free you from their demonic grip and allow you to see Him alone.
bless them all
Well, of course, for Muslims and followers of Allah, they would say Christianity is from the pit. But they are wrong.
true, and I do rejoice when Baptists spread the word among peoples in N-E India, in Africa and in Arabia —> they too do God’s work.
“That is the very definition of fruitless. That one statement shows that the hundreds of words you have posted in this thread was just an exercise in futility. “ —> well put, a sensible discussion can happen, when you have sincere posters posting positive messages about their beliefs. Anything else is just mud-slinging.
let’s pray for more people to discover Christ in the new year!
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