Catholics, Get Ready to Suffer

NC Register ^ | January 31, 2012 | Matthew Archbold

[NYer]

I remember coloring in the lions on the paper my Catechism teacher had handed out. The lions in the coliseum were approaching a group of huddled Catholics.

My CCD teacher asked us if we too were willing to suffer for our faith the way the martyrs of old did? I remember looking at those cartoon lions and deciding that yes, I very much had the stuff to stare down a cartoon lion. Easy.

But it’s easy to answer in the affirmative when we’re talking about cartoon lions. It’s different when we’re talking real life. Real lions have teeth.

And make no mistake, real life is what we’re talking now. We have a government that mandates what pro-life counselors must say. We have a government now that mandates that Catholic institutions pay for things it considers sinful. We have a government that now says the cost of being an American is to abandon Catholicism.

Bishop Fabian W. Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Nebraska in response to the Obama administration’s contraception mandate said, “We cannot and will not comply with this unjust decree. Like the martyrs of old, we must be prepared to accept suffering which could include heavy fines and imprisonment.”

This scares me but it’s true.

Now is the time when decisions must be made by Catholic college presidents and hospital administrators and the heads of all sorts of Catholic institutions. Should I do what the government tells me or what the Church tells me is right? Some whom we have great hope for will choose poorly. Some will stand up unexpectedly and refuse to comply with the government. And they will pay a price for being Catholic.

We’re no longer talking about the slippery slope here. We’ve walked off a cliff. We’re in free fall.

[Quix]

At this point . . .

satan is no longer so interested in fostering atheism etc.

His goal is much more to turn all religion into a one world religion REQUIRING all individuals to

WORSHIP HIM AS GOD

or be beheaded.

It seems to me that Scripture is pretty clear about that.

Lots of things about the END TIMES are as much a puzzle as clear. That one’s pretty clear, imho.

[Quix]

I don’t know if I like your slick dagger or your rough hewn club better.

[EnglishCon]

Interesting point.

One thought though - Get out on religion threads in other forums, and you see that atheism itself is a religion, which attacks believers relentlessly. They are often downright fanatical in their unbelief.

Would not Satan be more inclined to promote a fervent belief system that denies the very existence of God?

I wrote a whole novel on the subject. Freepmail me if you want a copy (and don’t mind reading on your computer or a kindle)

[Quix]

THANKS for the offer of your book.

However with 16 pages of the titles on my Kindle, my reading list is plenty full.

I realize the logic of your assertion.

It just doesn’t happen to be the case. It is one thing Scripture is very clear on.

And, in fact, the secret societies comprising the evil ruling elite globalist oligarchy insist that prospective members NOT be atheists—even at the initiate and lower levels not yet clued in that the upper levels really worship satan.

He appears to be using Islam to destroy as many other religions as possible . . . and even at this RELATIVELY slightly early stage . . . work to merge it with Roman Catholocism before actually morphing it into strictly worshiping him.

Given that Islam is a demonic moon-god worshiping cult anyway—he’s already more than half-way to his goal, with them.

And given the Ashteroth-Mary-Goddess meme, personage of Romanism he also doesn’t have the full distance to go, with them.

Throw in the Ronald Reagan-warned-about contingencies that he mentioned in 5 of his public speeches . . . and the world could be stampeding over each other to join the new one world religion. However, you’ll have to research that yourself. I’m not authorized to talk about such plainly hereon.

[Iscool]

So the rapture is out, it seems. That leaves the tribulation saints. And that is focused on the Nation of Israel. So they miss out there, too.

And those who miss the Rapture, (and there'll be gazillions of them) will not be afforded an opportunity to follow God...

[Iscool]

You must all follow the bishop as Jesus Christ follows the Father, and the presbytery as you would the Apostles. Reverence the deacons as you would the command of God.

Very, very bad advice...Your bishop may be a worse sinner than you...

Bible tells us to test the spirits...It also tells us to search the scriptures to know that our salvation is sure...

The bible also tells us that the highest above us will be the lowest...Christians don't reverence deacons or anyone...

Your author gives you unGodly and unBiblical advice...

[Iscool]

Who's the female there with the halo around her head who is carrying the baby who does not have a halo around his head???

Is that the qween of heaven???

[Iscool]

Actually, they were Christians, not Catholics. And they were famous for NOT huddling.
RCC wasn't around yet, IIRC.

Sure it was...The RCC was the people in the stands, cheering on the lions...

[EnglishCon]

Now you have my curiosity going.

Shall have to devote some time this evening to researching. You have given me enough clues for a preliminary search web.

The offer of the book is always there - hit me up as and when you wish.

Thank you for a most fun and stimulating conversation!

[Petrosius]

These, of course, are general counsels. St. Ignatius is not counseling that we follow individual bishops, priests or deacons into error but that we should remain in communion with the Church and not fall into schism. If an individual bishop were to fall into error then we have recourse to the Church as a whole. I remind you of the words of our Lord himself:

Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice. (Matt. 23:1-3).

and:

After this the Lord appointed seventy [-two]* others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. [He said to them], "Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me." (Lk. 10:1,16)

Our Lord Himself gives us the command to obey those who hold proper authority. Thus the teaching of St. Ignatius is indeed biblical.

That being said, the purpose of the post was to show the falsehood of the claim that the early Christians who were martyred were not Catholic, that somehow the Catholic Church was an invention of a latter age. The letters of the St. Ignatius, as well as other writings of the Church Fathers, show that all the markers of the Catholic Church were already present in the Church from the beginning. Nor is there any historical evidence that there were any groups of Christians in the first centuries who proposed a gospel the same as modern evangelical Protestants, a gospel which was unknown until the 16th century.

Historical facts can be such a bummer when they contradict religious fantasies.

[Petrosius]

Given that the Pope seems to be increasingly head-strong destined to merging with Islam . . .

If you believe this then you do not know Pope Benedict the XVI !

[Iscool]

Historical facts can be such a bummer when they contradict religious fantasies.

I guess then the biggest fantasy is the one where you guys quote Ignatius when it is known amongst all religions that most of the writings attributed to Ignatius were forgeries, written a couple hundred years after Ignatius roamed the earth...

Want to hear about some more fantasies put out by your religion???

[Quix]

THANKS for your generosity.

I usually use

http://www.biblegateway.com

for basic keyword Scripture searches.

Sometimes

http://www.dogpile.com

can be more effective or quicker.

Biblegateway has a lot of translations.

[Quix]

The strategy seems to be . . .

a paragraph of incremental sliding down the slippery slope

covered by pages of fluff, distraction, disinformation, obfuscation etc.

Time will tell which of our perspectives came truest.

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

-—IIRC-—

YDNRC.

History shows that the bishop, Ignatius of Antioch, used the term “Catholic” in 110 A.D. and it was in use thereafter (and probably in use before).

There is nothing wrong with the term Christian, but there is nothing magical about it either. It simply means “follower of Christ.” Theoretically, a literal “follower of Christ” could reject His divinity, or the Hypostatic Union, or The Trinity.

“Trinitarian” is a more accurate, descriptive term, since it refers to the greatest Christian belief and Church teaching, and excludes heretical beliefs regarding the Godhead.

“Universal” is an accurate modifier of Christ’s Church, as Trinitarian would be. The term “Christian Church” is inferior, since it neglects the other two Persons of the Trinity.

[ottbmare]

For the sake of Christ—and I mean that advisedly, not as a blasphemy!—please stop fighting with each other. Please prayerfully consider that you may not know what the inner life and relationship between God and another believer might be. Please consider that you could just be mistaken about the beliefs of others. Lacking God’s perfect knowledge of every heart, you can’t judge the mental state or practices of others.

Do you not see how you are pleasing Satan with your harsh, sarcastic words and gratuitous, pointless insults? Do you really think you’re going to persuade anyone to your viewpoint by such invective?

Stop these doctrinal quarrels and join together! There is no question that we as Christians will all be facing persecution in the future, and we’re beginning to see legal persecution and problems already. Our Christ warned us of this at the end times so there’s no doubt at all that it will take place. Do you really think it pleases Him to see you attack others who believe in and follow Him?

[Quix]

There are maybe 8-12 clues toward such . . . however . . .

ONE of them is sufficient.

The Vatican’s declaration that the fallen angels must be considered brothers . . . at least potential brothers suitable for baptism

is more than a little telling.

It is part and parcel of the globalist values, strategies, memes, plans, values, allegiances.

The die is cast.

All the rest is so much details.

[Quix]

Thanks for your wise and Biblical exhortation.

Working on it.

[Petrosius]

Citation, please.

[Quix]

Such links and documents have been posted on FR many times.

I won’t likely give the links and docs again.

You could search regarding the Vatican observatory’s head. He’s been a closer advisor of the Pope for some time.

The other bit about supporting globalism was in one of his last Encyclicals. There were fierce arguments about the key paragraph compared to the contradictory other paragraphs.

I have no need to revisit those arguments.

Those who really want to search out the facts can do so easily enough.

Rationalizations on the part of the RC’s will continue to hold sway for a while longer. At some point, the issues will be obvious and moot.