bb: “you know that being a Catholic does not always equate to being a true, born again Christian.”
This is no doubt true.
However, the same could be said of “professed” Christians in any “denomination”.
“God knows who are his own children”.
This also is true.
For that reason, it ill behooves any of us to take on that particular responsibility—to know for certain who are God’s children....and who may not be.
I’m getting tired of this not-so-subtle style of presuming who are the Lord’s and who may not be that I read here on this forum. It seems to me that it is a thinly veiled genre of Phariseeism.
May the Lord spare us from attempting to see into the hearts of others, even if it is so carefully worded as to appear referring to Everyman and not a particular person.
“God’s love for each individual is totally personal and includes this mystery of a uniqueness that cannot be divulged to other human beings.” Pope Benedict XVI
Sometimes zeal can forget it’s purpose all the while it re-doubles its efforts.
Nice.
It’s fun to ring the changes on the old gag, “Often wrong, never in doubt.”
For example, I am often wrong, yet it has to be a very dark day for me to doubt that God loves me.
And double yes to PapaBenXVI. There is most the secret side of every encounter with the Lord. Even the old hymn gets it right: None other has ever known.
Thank you for this post.
We do get lost in the argument sometimes don’t we?