Posted on 05/31/2013 2:44:05 PM PDT by NYer
Do our Catholic children and most adults know what these images teach?
All of us know one of the elephants in the room of the Catholic Church. Our religious education programs are not handing on the essence of our Catholic Faith, our parents are befuddled about their role in handing on the faith and the materials we use are vapid or if good do not make an impression on young minds. We are afraid of asking for memorization and thus most don't remember anything they've learned about God and Church other than some niceties and feel good emotions.
I teach each class of our grades 1-6 (we don't have 7th or 8th) each Thursday, rotating classes from week to week. For the last two years I have used Baltimore Catechism #1 as my text book. It is wonderful to use with children and it is so simple yet has so much content. If Catholics, all Catholics, simply studied Baltimore Catechism #1, we would have very knowledgeable Catholics.
These past two years I've used Baltimore Catechism #2 with our adult religious program which we call Coffee and Conversation following our 9:30 AM Sunday Mass, which coincides with our CCD program which we call PREP (Parish Religious Education Program).
This #2 book has more content and is for middle school, but upper elementary school children must have been more capable of more serious content back when this book was formulated and used through the mid 1960's because it is a great book to use with adults and not childish at all. We all use this same book as a supplemental book for the RCIA because it is so clear, nobly simple and chocked full of content!
Yes, there are some adjustments that need to be made to some chapters, but not that many, in light of Vatican II and the new emphasis we have on certain aspects of Church that are not present in the Baltimore Catechism. But these are really minor.
What is more important though is that when the Baltimore Catechism was used through the mid 1960's it was basically the only book that was used for children in elementary and junior high school. It was used across the board in the USA thus uniting all Catholics in learning the same content. There was not, in other words, a cottage industry of competing publishing houses selling new books and different content each year.
The same thing has occurred with liturgical music, a cottage industry of big bucks has developed around the sale of new hymnals, missalettes and new music put on the open market for parishes to purchase. It is a money making scheme.
Why do our bishop allow this to happen in both liturgical music and parish catechesis? The business of selling stuff to parishes and making mega bucks off of it is a scandal that has not be addressed.
In the meantime, our liturgies suffer and become fragmented because every parish uses a different resource for liturgical music and the same is true of religious formation, everyone uses something different of differing quality or no quality at all.
Isn't it time to wake up and move forward with tried and true practices that were tossed out in favor of a consumerist's approach to our faith that has weakened our liturgies, our parishes and our individual Catholics?
Hush you. Some of us favor the Dominicans. ;)
Exactly how many scriptures do you believe have been officially (dogmatically) interpreted? That is a serious question and I am expecting a serious reply.
What do you think God is looking for as entry to heaven?
“Keep on reading, madame.”
This is two chapters away from a verse you falsely claimed had to do with ‘scripture’ as opposed to prophecy, which you had asserted through the omission of words. From this foundation, I can’t see what you hope to establish. What, my lady, do you propose this latter verse is demonstrating? You’re going to have to spell it out, since I can’t know what weird things you have in mind.
Again, like your Church knows what that verse means. Peter was given a duty which has yet to be fulfilled. It has nothing to do with your manmade church. But it sure grabbed onto that verse and claimed the POWER to speak mighty things.
They kept the Sabbath under the covenant of the time.
Bob do you know what loosing and binding means? Do you know the exact meaning of it to a first century Jew?
Seriously Do you?
It says to keep the Sabbath. For Catholics, that means going to Mass on all Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation. “Mortal sin” means a sin that kills whatever grace is your soul, not that your body will die then and there.
Was it France?
The idea that contraception causes socialism is ridiculous. Period.
As I’ve already pointed out, there are LOTS of overwhelmingly Catholic countries in Central and South America with HIGH birth rates that have gone down this road to socialism and economic ruin.
Mexico, just as an example, has been a socialist basket case for generation after generation and it is a Catholic country with generally high birthrates.
One of the biggest hurdles these countries in central and south America face is the self destructive economic gibberish the Catholic church all too often preaches. Free markets pull people out of poverty. Forced government charity via redistribution of wealth enslaves people and leaves them dependent and broken.
I am happy to concede the RCC does many good works. Pope John Paul II and Benedict impressed me very much even though I disagree with them on many political issues. This new Pope, Pope Francis, seems to be a fairly strident economic populist leftist. That is not particularly surprising considering he is South American Jesuit. I am not saying the man is a liberation theologian, but he clearly has decidedly left wing economic views. I don’t understand why some of you Catholics are afraid to admit that?
I think so.
It appears that about 10 verses have been infallibly interpreted by the RCC.
“Mexico, just as an example, has been a socialist basket case for generation after generation and it is a Catholic country with generally high birthrates.”
Current birthrate in Mexico:
2.25.
What is your definition of a ‘high’ birthrate?
And yes - contraception is inextricably linked with socialism.
wrong photo to show: people dumb enough to make a statement like the one you quoted are typically turned on by white robes
My experience, back in the years following Vatican II, was having my Bible snatched by a nun and being scolded for having purchased one. Eventually it was returned to my mom. Since that day, I have read the Bible on my own, at home. I did not carry my Bible around other people until after I started attending a Southern Baptist church. So, from my experience, limited as it is, it seems like it is radical for Catholic kids to read the Bible. I know things have changed a lot, but not too long ago I taught science at a Catholic school and was told I could not have my New King James withing sight of the students!!!
“It says to keep the Sabbath. For Catholics, that means going to Mass on all Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation.”
The Sabbath is specifically Saturday, which is the day the Lord rested. We are not bound by the law, so Sabbath keeping isn’t necessary for salvation, though many honor it. However, it doesn’t just transform into Sunday and other days. If that was the case, you’d redefine the word Sabbath and have them refer to all those days, instead of calling them by something else. These are distinct holy days. I think the Jews would be quite upset at the idea that a word has so little meaning.
Whatever the case, there is no binding doctrine on having one day or another as Holy. Romans 14 actually teaches that such a focus on particular days in the first place is in vain. Augustine, himself, actually celebrating the Lord’s Supper everyday, and not on Sunday. And I would regard that we all have a liberty to worship God how we please, whenever we want, similarly.
We are not under law, we are under grace.
Now, as for grace. Grace isn’t an inanimate object that can be destroyed or renewed. Grace is, by definition, the free gift and favor of God on the undeserving sinner, regardless of our works:
Rom 3:23-24 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (24) Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Rom_5:15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
It is given to us before the foundation of the world, predestinated according to His own desire to give it to us despite our works:
2Ti_1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
Rom 9:11-16 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) (12) It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. (13) As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. (14) What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. (15) For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. (16) So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Salvation, as the Apostle concludes, is not on him that willeth or him that runneth, but on the sovereign mercy of God who chooses us to not only believe in him, but to produce fruit; this choice is purely the choice of God:
Joh_15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
Mexican birthrate has been on a slow decline recently, but they’ve been socialist for generations. Actually the PRI (socialist party) was in power for almost 75 years uninterrupted. In fact, the exact opposite of what you claim is happening in Mexico. Their birth rate is certainly above ours, but slowly declining - yet they are FINALLY doing away with some of the socialist policies that have ruined that country.
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